Crossover
by Hellmouth23
Summary: A Lost and Haunted crossover fic. What happens when Jack starts to have visions just after seeing his dead three year old son Kevin. Will his visions drive him insane or will someone be there to help him. JATE. Rated T. CHAP 16 UP.
1. Chapter 1

**Crossover**

**Hey guys I come bringing yet another story and this time it's a crossover with Lost and Haunted. This idea just popped into my head when I was watching Haunted yesterday and I had to put it down on paper because the jate element was just screaming at me over and over , so without further interruption here it is and I hope you like it.**

**P.S. I do not own lost, especially jack and kate which is a shame!!**

Enjoy

Once again he sat in his office looking at the same things, going over the same things, just like he had done for the past three years. His growing obsession over finding his son's killer had not only driven away his sanity but his marriage as well.  
It had also been three days since he was back from the weird sort of reality he had been sucked into when he flat-lined back in the hospital. He couldn't make head no tails of what was happening but the one thing that stood out in there, the one thing that made perfect sense to him was what he saw. A small angelic like figure reaching out to him with his little hand in a plea for his company, a plea to feel the warmth of his love once again, but what made it harder for him was the fact that no matter how far he tried to reach, it just wasn't close enough and it broke his heart even more when the small figure started to call out to him with more desperation and all he could do in response was shout out with the same amount of desperation and show him as well that he wasn't going anywhere, ever, he wouldn't let go this time, not after he had been taken away from him so suddenly, of not seeing his little, beautiful face which he firmly and constantly believed was all his mother but she argued with the fact that he had his daddy's eyes and now that was the most prominent thing he could see through the light of the blinding abyss that lied behind this little form who was still reaching out to him, not understanding why he wasn't coming to him.

As a last ditch effort he tried reaching out to his son again and this time to his good luck, he seemed to be getting closer and closer to reaching that small outstretched hand, but as he was moving, they were suddenly accompanied by faint voices circling in the background and at first he was alerted to it but once he looked back at the more clearer figure now standing right in front of him, all he could think about was reaching out to that hand and never letting go, although as he did, the voices started to get more louder and urgent and the next minute it was also accompanied by a much more stronger and closer one and as he turned around, he was faced with bald white figure that he knew at first glance was nothing good, judging by the way he was firmly grasping him and pulling him even further away from the small figure that still kept on calling out to him but this time got no answer in return.

"It's time to go back jack" the figure whispered to the slightly frightened man with nothing but an evil smile plastered on his face to clearly show him that he was someone who was not to be trifled with and that was the last thing he saw after he blacked out completely for what seemed like hours to him and then he felt a sudden jolt rush through his body, rejuvenating him back into the reality he still belonged in, even though he didn't wish for it in the slightest, because if he did then he would be forced to live through the pain and realisation of his loss and that alone was slowly killing him.

So now he just sat in his office at his desk, alone and empty but his head seemed to be a different story because over the past few days all he had been seeing and experiencing were visions. Incoherent visions that seemed to make no sense to him in the slightest and all he would see as well were certain elements of objects being thrown around and flashes of light accompanying it's presence in the background. It had literally been driving him insane for the past two sleepless nights because with each vision that he had, it had driven him further away from the visual memories he had, had of the happier times in his life, when he once had a purpose, a reason to live, Kevin, his three year old son Kevin who he shared with the love of his life, the woman he hadn't seen in the last two years...until now, he noted upon looking at the very real and solid figure standing in the doorway of his office, looking at him with nothing but shock and concern.

"Kate?" was all he could utter, not believing that she was here after all this time.

**Hey guys so there it is!! I know it's a little short but I just wanted to get the basis of this story down and I promise that if there is a second chapter, that's hopefully if you guys like it then it will be fairly longer and more interactive as well. So what do you think guys, worth continuing??**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

**Hey guys I'm back again with the second chapter and I hope you like it. A big thank you to the people who have read and also reviewed this story, you guys rock and without further interruption here it is.**

Enjoy

For the next few minutes she just stood at the doorway of his office taking note of not only his dingy and unorganised workplace, but his dishevelled and almost drained appearance which immediately tended to raise some concern in her. Even though they had drifted apart as a result of what happened that night, she had always checked up on him through his partner Marc who was on the Police Force, and when the hospital called her three days ago telling her that he ex-husband was in a critical condition, she literally bolted out of her house leaving her present boyfriend Sawyer without so much as a goodbye.

Over the past few months they had been dating on and off and it wasn't until a few weeks ago that Sawyer decided to take their relationship to the next stage by organising an official date. A date she hadn't even show up to because she was so busy with work. However being the resilient man he was, he attempted to give them another chance because he had honestly not met anyone like her. She was so kind that it almost made his heart melt for her in the way it hadn't for a long time, well ever since Cassie his ex-wife.

Although whenever he was with her he always felt that kind of barrier between them, a barrier that prohibited him from seeing who she truly was on the inside, even though they were living together now. Whenever he would ask her questions about her past, she would just in a teasing way try to change the subject all together and he couldn't understand why. _Why wouldn't she open up to him. Was it because she did something bad?_ He constantly thought to himself , or was it that she still had feelings for jack, the only part of her past she had reluctantly and painfully revealed to him. He didn't know but he sure as hell wanted to because he was sick and tired of her being called in the middle of the night to tend to her ex who had seemed to get himself in some sort of predicament yet again. So this time he made the decision to wait up for her and ask her once and for all to either let go of jack or choose.

"Hey" kate managed to get out while trying to sustain her shock of what she was seeing. In response jack just got up from his seat and returned the sentiment in the same manner. The whole time he too was constantly aware of her observant gaze over his changed features. He looked more sunken on the face, like he literally hadn't slept in days and with that he had started to grow a bit of a beard as well to add to his tired and defeated appearance. He watched her walk into the dingy and scattered atmosphere of his office and then attempted to sit down when she miraculously managed to find a seat somewhere in there. With that he sat down as well and just gazed intently at her literally glowing in the moonlight shining in through his window. Through all these years, there wasn't one moment that had gone by where he had never thought about her.

Looking at her now he could see all the things that made him fall for her in the first place. With the way her thick brown and luscious curls swayed across her delicate skin whenever she moved and her green emerald eyes which were the things that captured him the most and looking at her now, he remembered the first day she walked into his life, the day he knew that she would eventually become Mrs. Jack Shepherd.

_(Flashback)_

_It was the start of a new day for one Jack shepherd and like any other day he did the usual things in life any other would, but as he stepped into the shower today , he felt a weird feeling come over him, like something was gonna happen today, something good he felt judging by the warmth he was feeling now in his heart at the thought. So with that he quickly showered and dressed for work. _

_His father was one of the best surgeons in the world and even though he wanted his only son to follow in his steps, jack was adamant in working on the Police force, saying that he was still saving lives, just in another way. From there on him and his father rarely kept in touch and jack knew it was because of what he was doing, but he couldn't care less because this is what he wanted to do since he was a little boy. So with that in mind he lived a happy life of doing his dream job of saving lives on the Police force and feeling a slight sense of accomplishment at the end of the day at knowing that he was making a difference in his own way. Although he did feel that there was just something else missing in his life, someone he wanted to share his happiness with. His partner Marc had tried to set him up on a numerous amount of dates, including Sarah their receptionist who he had to admit was attractive but he just didn't feel that natural spark in him ignite whenever he was around her. Well little did he know that today he was going to get the surprise of his life. Today his life would change completely._

_He walked in through the main entrance of the L.A. Police station to be met with bustling atmosphere that constantly lurked inside. When he first started he wasn't quite accustomed to the constant noise and the occasional prisoner trying to breakout, but as the years had gone by he had gotten quite used to it. _

"_Hey man" Marc announced coming over to the smiling man and patting him on the back in a normal friendly gesture he did everyday. In response jack just nodded in the man's direction and walked off towards the direction of his office with a smile still plastered to his face, displaying the weird and warm feeling he was feeling in his heart today all of a sudden. As he got into his office and sat down he was piled on with a load of case files and after working straight for three hours straight, he buzzed his assistant on the phone and asked if he could have a cup of coffee and all he got in response was a "yes sir" and with that he went back to working on the case files, not even noticing a few minutes later that there was someone standing right in front of him with a nervous expression on her face. At that very same moment as well jack got a sudden jolt in his heart and almost like a magnet he looked upon the now beautiful vision standing nervously in front of him with a hot cup of coffee secured safely in her hands. The more he looked at her, the more he felt his heart race with such intense feeling that he couldn't make head no tails of it, all he cared about right now was how beautiful and perfect she was. _

_For the next few minutes he just stared at her in amazement and the gesture made her seriously blush at first and then she nervously walked forward to put the coffee on his table and then run out before she said something that would make her look completely stupid. Although as she made the move to leave, she was suddenly stopped by an arm now grasping her wrist in a tight but gentle grip and with that she slowly turned around to be faced with the person who the arm belonged to._

"_Hey" the man said giving the brunette one of his dazzling smiles and making her heart simply turn to mush at never seeing something so beautiful. _

"_Hey" she replied nervously while attempting to hang her head to cover the sudden warmth that was spreading even further across her cheeks. In response to her humble gesture jack just used his index finger to lift her chin up to face his intrigued gaze.._

"_Hey, you okay?" he asked the brunette who just frantically nodded in response and then made the move to leave again, suddenly feeling very hot and in response jack gently let go of her this time and offered her a smile of reassurance to make her believe that everything was okay and with that she just offered him one more smile in return and left his office with him suddenly close on her heels, wanting to ask her something…._

"_Hey" he said reaching out to touch her arm to turn her around so she could face him with what he wanted to ask her ever since he met her. _

"_I don't know your name" he said while offering her a small chuckle which made her heart melt for him even more and in response she just smiled and said…._

"_I'm kate" she said and he nodded while smiling while offering his hand out to her to shake while saying…_

"_Jack, and I hope I can see you again?" he asked with nothing but hope. He didn't want this to end and in response she chuckled lightly and reminded him that they would be seeing each other everyday since she was his assistant now and with that said she raised her eyebrows in a teasing fashion and walked back to her desk while giving him a more than satisfying view when she walked away. _

_(End of flashback)_

He could remember that moment like it was yesterday and the thought was enough to bring a smile back to his face, but when he looked upon her face again, all he saw was confusion and concern and it was enough to bring him back to this gloom filled reality.

"Hey are you okay? Kate asked with more emphasis and urgency. In response jack just nodded and once again they were put into a moment of silence yet again, that was until kate decided to break it once and for all.

"So what has the good old Jack Christian Shepherd been up to?" she asked with a slight smile making him chuckle in response at her using his full name.

"Not much just a little bit of this, a little bit of that" he simply replied. How could he tell her what he had been experiencing for the past two nights.

"That all I'm gonna get huh" she replied with a sad smile that just made him hang his head once again in genuine regret at the fact that he couldn't be honest with her because when they were together, they knew every single inch of each other's lives, the good and the bad, but now all he was doing was lying to her and it was eating him up inside and making him feel even more worse than he already felt. In response to his silence however kate decided that maybe it was a bad idea to have come here in the first place because being in the same room as he was, brought all those pent up feelings within her, feelings that she had never shared with anyone but him. Although as she made the move to get up, she was stopped by his voice once again, but it wasn't just his voice that stopped her, it was what he said. So with that she turned around to ask him to repeat what he had just said.

"I said I've seen him, Kevin" jack said with more emphasis showing her that he wasn't kidding in the slightest. In response to his question however she just buried her face in her hands and cried silently at the mention of his name. Kevin was always a tedious subject for her because when he died, she felt like a part of her died along with him and from that day onwards she had shielded and shut off her emotions from everyone, including sawyer who still stood clueless as to why she did it. She took a few more minutes to compose herself and then faced jack's now tearful gaze while saying….

"Kevin has been gone for three years jack. He's been gone for three years and no one has seen him since.." she started but she was cut of by jack.

"I just wanna know" he said and then broke off while covering his face to allow the tears of deep grief and sadness to fall once again like they had done so many times over the past three years.

"Just wanna know what jack. That some creepy psycho broke into our house and took our son." she said to him simply while trying to get a hold on her emotions at not only at having to relive the memory of her dead son but also feeling the hurt and grief that jack was feeling.

"Please jack just let it go, because I won't survive it" she admitted tearfully to a sobbing jack who just reverted his gaze away from hers in an effort to hide his weakness from her because he refused to let her think of him or see him like that.

"Please just let it go" she said once more and then silently let herself out before jack could even get a chance to stop her.

**Hey guys so there it is, and I know it's a little sad now but I promise that it will get better. So what do you think guys??**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

**Hey guys! first off I wanna say a big thank you for the lovely reviews because they seriously got me so motivated to write more and it's such a good feeling as well to know that you guys like it, so thankyou and I hope you stick around for the weirdness that is bound to ensue within this story, but i will try to keep it sane as well. hehe.**

**P.S. By the way ****A Jedi's angel I don't think they've actually released the show Haunted on DVD and I don't think they ever will which is a shame because in my opinion I thought it was one of Matthew Fox's best performances on a TV show, well apart from lost that is!! hehe.**

Enjoy

It was 2 in the morning now and she hadn't returned home yet. This was also the tenth time he had tried to call her and all he got in return was the same robotic like voice of her answering machine. So with that he waited anxiously and it wasn't till the clock struck at 3.00am, that he heard the front door being opened quietly and a dark and slightly slouched figure coming through. She didn't seem to be aware of his presence just yet so with that she just closed the door and collapsed onto the floor while sobbing her heart out just like she did every night to try and still get through the mind numbing pain of her loss.

Sawyer on the other hand pushed away his anger completely and was at her side in minutes and wordlessly took her into his arms and lulled her into an almost immediate sleep, showing him how exhausted she truly was, not just with work but with the many other things in her past that still lingered to this day, reminding her of what she had lost so tragically three years ago.

While he was walking upstairs with her tucked safely in his arms, every fibre of his being screamed at him to ask her for an explanation as to why she was still seeing her ex husband and why she was causing herself to go through the pain as a result, but as he glanced at her exhausted and tear streaked face, all he could think about was taking the pain away and making her think of better things. So with that he walked into their bedroom while kicking the door behind him with his foot and then he lowered them onto the bed, tucking her in safely first and then lying along side her, while kissing her gently on her forehead and then wrapping his large and muscular arm around her lower torso in a protective gesture, just the way he did every night.

(Meanwhile)

After she left so abruptly, he decided to once again drown his miseries away temporarily by cleaning his liquor cabinet clean of all the bottles that were kept in there. When he was on his third bottle of liquor, he could barely stand, let alone see where he was going but somehow he managed to find his way to the small couch situated to the side of his office and once he landed on it, he drifted into unconsciousness, dreaming of the same thing every night for the past three years, not being able to get past such a mystery.

(Flashback in the form of Jack's dream)

It was 7.00pm now and he was rushing home, while taking note to make a brief stop to pick up a bouquet of white lilies for his lovely wife, her favourite he noted and with that he made the long journey home thinking of his life and how great it was compared to the way he was before he met her. Whenever they were together, he would always feel like himself, which was a rare thing for him to experience since he never even felt that way when he was with his parents, but kate, she was everything he could ever want in life, which is the reason he wanted her to be Mrs. Shepherd three years ago to this day. Although there was something else on his mind now, something he hoped that she would want to experience once again with him and in the end he decided to ask her if she wanted to have another baby, thinking it would be the most precious gift to recieve on their three year anniversary.

Ten minutes later he was home and at first he was kind of worried that virtually all the lights in the house were off, but as he stepped through the front door, he was greeted with a welcome that literally made his heart thump rapidly in excitement and anticipation of what kate exactly had planned tonight. So with that he threw his coat onto the sofa and followed the path of rose petals up the stairs, taking note of the small scented candles she had placed on the sides of each step that led him closer to the light and love of his life who was now standing in the doorway of their bedroom in a silk nightie, giving him a teasing smile while curling her fingers in an inviting fashion and with that he willingly followed her to celebrate their love and commitment to each other once again in the form of the passionate moans that managed to escape their frantically gasping mouths while reaching the peak of their highs and then suddenly letting go completely, forgetting everything, everyone, except the person they were holding and caressing.

"Wow!! I guess we still got it huh" jack managed to get out once he laid on his back pulling kate along with him to let her head rest on his rapidly moving and sweaty chest while she tried to regain her breath back as well.

"Happy Anniversary" kate said with a smile while leaning forward to capture his lips in a tender kiss that managed to make his heart skip once again at the very touch and sensation of her lips on his.

"Happy Anniversary baby" jack replied softly once he reluctantly pulled away from her and in return she just gave him a wide smile and captured his lips again while taking the opportunity to place herself on top of him to again act on what her heart and body wanted to experience with him at that very moment.

Although a few minutes later they were suddenly broken apart by a muffled thud and at first they both thought that it was probably something being moved by the strong moving wind outside which was accompanied by the heavy falling rain, but then they heard the same thud again, only this time it was louder and with that jack grabbed hold of his jeans and left their room to go check on Kevin to see if he was okay, not preparing himself in the slightest for what he was about to witness when he entered Kevin's room to now only find an empty unsettled bed and his son's window wide open, to welcome in the wetness and cold of the night that took away their son so suddenly.

Although when he looked back to the bed this time, he saw that it was miraculously made up now, but there was someone on it who was covered up completely, and upon closer inspection he noticed that there was a slight sound coming from the covered figure who was literally hunched up in the middle of the bed, hiding even further within the space. At first his thoughts immediately went towards Kevin, hoping to God that it was him under there, but as he suddenly threw of the Duvet, he was once again faced with the very same figure he who had been appearing quite frequently in his newly acquired visions and now just like every time he saw him, he felt nothing but fear overtaking everything in him and it was that fear that made him virtually powerless against this unknown entity.

The next thing he saw was the figure now inches from his face telling him something that he couldn't hear and couldn't understand as a result, but by carefully reading his lips he could clearly make out the four words he kept on saying over and over again, " Catch them, Kill them" and with that everything suddenly went black for jack, but within that blackness he heard a faint ringing sound in the background and as he drifted further into the seemingly endless abyss, the ringing got louder, to the extent where it became ear-piercing, and with that he was awoken from his troubled slumber, only to be met with the annoying and very existent sound of his office phone now going off.

"Jack Shepherd investigations spe…" jack managed to get out but he was interrupted by the frantic voice on the other end almost immediately.

"Jack it's Marc. I'm coming up man, there's something we need to talk about.." Marc said into the phone while already making his way up the stairs to the private office jack had been working in for the past three years ever since what happened to Kevin.

"Hey man can we talk later I'm really busy at the moment I…" he said tiredly into the phone still mentally reciting what happened in his dream but as he thought more about it, he felt that there was a lot more to it and the very next minute he was about to find out.

"It's important man, another kid has gone missing, taken from his own room last night." Marc said and with that he got off the phone leaving jack to wonder what the hell was going on with him. Was it a dream or was it a vision?

**So there it is guys and by the way the whole "catch them, kill them" line was used from the horror remake "Amityville Horror". So what do you think guys??**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**Hey guys I'm back with another spooky update and we will also start to see a lot more of this creepy entity jack is seeing in his dreams/visions. Once again guys thanks so so much for the lovely reviews and I hope you like the direction i'm taking this in. ;)**

Enjoy

_Was it a dream or was it a vision?_

The thought kept on lingering in his mind, that was until he was brought out of it by the loud knocking on his office door, and upon noticing it's form through the misted glass, he knew who it was right away.

"Hey man, wow you look like hell" Marc stated upon entering the emotionally exhausted man's dingy office.

"So what's the case?" jack asked beating to the punch, not wanting in the slightest to talk about what was going on with him, especially now. To his good luck Marc complied and handed him the case file he had brought with him.

The more he read on, the more he saw how similar it was to his vision, but he couldn't get past how real it still all felt for him. He could still smell her scent on him, even though it was just a dream, he could still feel and remember every second of it. _So why was this happening to him?_ He asked himself, hoping that he would get sent some sort of sign as a result of his plea, but all he got in return was a confused and concerned look from the person standing opposite him and with that he brought himself back into the awfulness of the reality he was forced to live in.

"Hey man you okay?" Marc asked his friend and former police partner and all he unfortunately got in response was a slight nod, but as he raised his gaze to meet his, it was focused on something else behind him and judging by the shocked and terrified expression now present on his friend's face, he could tell that it wasn't something pleasant at all.

_How was he here, now? _He asked himself, not being able to form any kind of thought or explanation at all at the sight in front of him.

"Let it go jack. Let this go jack." the figure ordered rather than asked of jack and with that he started to scream at the figure, regardless of the rather wary and now scared Marc backing off slowly and letting the man rassle it out with the empty space he was currently pointing at with an accusing finger.

"YOU STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME YOU GOT IT, AND I'M NOT LETTING GO OF THIS AS WELL, I'M NOT GONNA LET YOU DO THIS AGAIN!!" jack screamed in an effort to scare away this more than unwanted form, but all it did in return was make the form laugh evilly, while his eyes turned a devilish jet black which was followed by him simply saying "we'll see jack, we'll see" and with that he slowly dissipated into the darkness that still lingered within the corners of his office.

Following this little outburst of his, he started to suddenly feel really ill and with each second that passed, it started to get worse, to the point where he was forced to loose the feeling in his legs, and with that he collapsed onto the floor without warning, slowly giving into the weakening feeling that took over his body at the moment.

The next moment he opened his eyes, he was immediately blinded by the light that was boldly shining through the hospital blinds of the room he was currently in. _What happened?_ was the first thing that flashed into his mind and with that he gained a sudden burst of curiosity to find out just what was going on, but as he made the move to get up, he was forced back down onto the bed again by the restraints that now wound around his wrists, clearly suggesting something was seriously going on, and before he could call out for help, he was suddenly met with someone at the door with a very displeased look on their face, and he had a good idea as to why this was.

_( Half an hour earlier)_

_She was awoken firstly by her alarm clock going off at 7.00am and if that didn't work, then the light snoring blowing into her ear from sawyer was enough to get the job done, and with that she was up and ready to face a new day and forget all about last night's events, because whether she was ready to face it or not, she needed to move on and as she gazed back at sawyer's still sleeping form, she knew that she had to do it before she lost him as well. To be honest she was quite surprised that he hadn't bolted out of the door already, because when she first met him, she surmised in some ways that he would be on of those guys who loves you for what's on the outside rather than it being both, but over the time they had spent together, he had surprised her in more ways than one, especially in being patient with the very frequent visits she had made to her ex, jack. _

_She was so caught up in her thoughts now that she hadn't even realised that sawyer was now awake and just looking at her with his arms folded behind his head, giving her an amusing smile to go with his curiosity over what exactly was going on in that head of hers. So he gave her a few more minutes to come to reality and when she failed to raise her gaze to meet his, he took it upon himself to crawl forward on the bed and get it once and for all, and to his good luck she finally raised her head and looked upon him, mirroring the same mischievous smile that was still present on his dimpled face, and with that he started to lean in to simply relish in the feeling of having such wonderful woman in his life, when all of a sudden her phone started going off. _

"_Ignore it baby" sawyer pleaded of her as a last ditch effort to give them a chance here and in some ways to make him also believe that this relationship wasn't one sided, but much to his bad luck she had already manoeuvred herself away fro him and towards the direction of her ringing phone, and when she saw who was calling, she immediately picked up right away._

"_Hey Marc what's up?" kate asked into the phone hoping to God that it wasn't something bad concerning a certain ex of hers._

"_What? When?" she gasped in genuine shock and then pain as a result of what she was just being informed of. _

"_Okay I'll be right there. Thanks" she declared and with that she got off the phone to ready herself for the place she was planning on going to now, although sawyer was little more than miffed at the fact that she was running off yet again and he had a fairly good idea as to who she was running off to. So with that he grasped hold of her arm to stop her from frantically moving around the room._

"_What are you doing?" she asked in a ridiculous fashion and all she got in response was a look. A look that willed her to understand what she had been doing to him all this time. To his good luck, she softened her frantic gaze as a result and simply leaned forward to peck him on the lips while silently apologising to him yet again and then she surprised him by pulling away to resume with what she had planned to do, leaving sawyer clueless and alone once again, and it was that very loneliness that made him seriously think if he wanted to invest into this relationship any longer. _

"Hey" kate announced while walking into his room, clearly not happy with what she had been informed he was doing, or consuming was more like it.

"Hey. So how have you been?" jack inquired with genuine curiosity, suddenly feeling very calmed and content, but he could tell that kate was definitely not feeling the same way, so with that he frowned once again and decided to ask her something, something that had been bothering him for quite some time.

"So how's sawyer?" he asked with a hint of sarcasm present in his voice which didn't go unnoticed by kate, but in the end she decided to pass it off and focus on what she wanted to discuss with him.

"What were you thinking jack, did you want to drink yourself to death?" she stressed the minute she sat down on the stool situated at the side of his bed. In response to her comment he surprised her by chuckling ironically, because it seemed to be his plan at the time, as living in this changed and lonely world was a little too much to bear.

"You can't keep doing this to yourself jack" she paused upon taking note of his changed and sunken appearance and the IV tube that was stuck into his right arm.

"Your gonna kill yourself, if you don't let go" she begged off him while trying to hold back the tears over allowing the thought of losing him to even enter her mind. Although jack had a bit of an opposite reaction to what she had asked of him, because he knew what she meant and what she was asking him to let go, so with that he went back to focusing on his job rather than his emotions, which were quite close to breaking again.

"Whatever, can you just pass me my phone, I need to call Marc I.." he was about to say when he was cut off by kate.

"The only thing your gonna be doing for the next few days is catching up on some much needed be rest" she stressed while releasing him of his restraints and pushing him down back onto the bed with her hands while offering him a small smile as well which managed to lighten the mood in the room a little bit, but then it turned all serious again when kate looked intently into his eyes while telling him…

"Your not a cop anymore jack, you can't afford to risk your life any further yo…" she managed to get out before lowering her head to push away the tears once again and in response he just gradually lifted her face with the help of his finger and when she did meet his gaze, he offered her a comforting smile, silently telling her that she had nothing to worry about, but she knew without a doubt that it would never happen, not until death parted them. As the moment passed on, his smile went wider and with that he let out a little chuckle at the utter cuteness of her thoughtful gaze and in response she slowly felt like giving in, but in the end she willed herself to focus on the situation of his health and what was the obvious source of it.

"It's not funny jack" she stressed while trying to suppress a smile herself, feeling her heart melt just a little more at the sight in front of her.

"Common it's a little funny" jack replied while trying to relish in the mood, but soon it turned moody and serious again.

"Please jack just promise me you won't do this to yourself anymore you need to.." she was about to go on when they were both suddenly interrupted by her beeper going off, and with checking it out and seeing who it was, she got up from where she was sitting and said that she would come and check up on him later, but before she walked out of the room, she remembered what she was gonna say, what she believed would finally ease his resolve and allow him to finally let go.

"You've got to stop punishing yourself. It is not going to bring him back jack" she said and with that she abruptly left, leaving jack to ponder on her words and then break down completely, dissolving himself into his tears as a result because he could never let go, it meant too much to him, she still meant so much to him.

**Hey guys there it is and we'll be meeting some very familiar faces very soon, so I hope you'll stick around for that. So what do you think guys??**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

**Hey guys, here is yet another spooky filled update that shall not only see the return of this unknown entity that's constantly plaguing jack's life, but we shall also see a few familiar faces making an appearance very soon within this story, so without further interruption here it is and once again thanks guys for the lovely reviews and please keep them comin. Thanks ;)**

Enjoy

Three days later and he was out of the hospital, leaving against the Doctor's recommendations and even his friends which merely consisted of his partner Marc and kate, literally begging him to just stay for one more week, but they both knew better that when his mind was made up, there was simply no changing it. So now he was back in full swing, with burying his mind into his work once again, which seemed to be the most effective method of not only making the pain and the memory of his loss subside, but also of the mysterious entity that kept on plaguing him with not only his unwanted appearance but also of the cryptic messages he was conveying. A part of him wanted to look more into it, because he had a weird feeling that this had something to do with Kevin's disappearance, but the very thought of delving into something like that now all over again would surely bring the stress back in waves, so in the end he decided to take a much needed break from the madness and with that he made a quick phone call.

"Hey man, you okay?" Marc asked on the other end of the phone.

"So you up for some ball?" jack offered, still not really wanting to talk about what was going on inside him because he wasn't even sure as to what he was feeling at this point cause he felt so damaged, emotionally and physically that he could hardly see or feel anything good in him. He lost the happiness and good in him three years ago, along with his precious son.

"Hey man I'm not sure we, I mean…" Marc attempted to get out before he was interrupted by jack.

"Common man, I need a break" jack simply pleaded in a last ditch effort.

"Wow Jack Shepherd taking a break, now there's definitely something wrong with you." Marc teased in genuine shock of what this man was saying. In response jack just chuckled lightly and asked Marc again if he was up for it, and the man immediately relented in response and said that he would meet up with him in a few minutes at the basketball court which was situated near the central park.

_(Meanwhile)_

Ever since she had last gone to see jack, she had been working non stop at the police station ever since then, to the point where he wouldn't see her for days on end, so with that he made a stand that when she returned home today, he would put his foot down and demand some time with her because he was seriously going crazy being constantly cooped up in here with nowhere to go and nothing to do.

_A few minutes later_

She came through the front door, tired physically and emotionally and the very last thing she expected to see now laying on the dining room table was a picnic basket, now filled with all kinds of food and drink, and a few seconds later she was also met with a very casually dressed sawyer walking in with a proud smile on his face, clearly in an act of accomplishment of what he had achieved and what he still had planned for the rest of the day. So with that he wordlessly walked over to her shocked form and immediately embraced her in a welcoming hug, while offering her a sweet kiss as well to bring her back to realisation and reality.

"What's all this for?" kate inquired while knitting her eyebrows in confusion and in response sawyer just chuckled at her innocence.

"Well baby, as it is such a lovely day outside, I was wonderin if you would like to spend it with a guy like me." he simply replied while offering her one of his dimple smiles in an effort to help break her resolve.

Her first instinct was to politely turn him down due to all her mixed feelings over these past couple of days, but in some ways she too felt the strain, especially with the whole thing about Jack, so with that she raised her gaze to meet sawyer's nervous one and when she did, she simply nodded in an agreeing manner which was surprisingly followed by her being raised into the air suddenly, while being twirled and embraced by the very man who was standing in front of her.

Twenty minutes later and they were all ready and packed to enjoy the glorious sunshine outside, and they decided to enjoy in the best way by heading to the central park. When they had arrived a few minutes later, they had found a perfect spot right under some shaded trees which happened to be very closely situated next to the local basketball court that currently had two men playing in there at the moment. However kate and sawyer never paid much attention to that area, instead they went and sat down in their spot to hopefully catch up with each other and also enjoy some of the food they had brought with them as well.

_(Meanwhile)_

Marc was stood there shocked for many reasons. Firstly that the very Jack Shepherd was taking a day off and secondly the man now playing in front of him seemed more alive than he had seen him in quite a while. However the very next minute he was distracted out of his thoughts by the very same man.

"Hey you okay man?" jack inquired, still trying to catch his breath but still concerned over his friend, and partly over the fact as well that this was the sixth consecutive hoop he had made.

"Huh oh yeah !so you sure are feeling better, so what's your secret?" Marc said in astonishment making jack laugh out loud in response. Something Marc hadn't also seen this in a long while as well, but upon constant observation, he noticed that the man's smile had now suddenly disappeared upon seeing something behind him, and with that he followed the man's gaze to what he was looking at, at the moment.

He knew that she was with someone now, but he had never gotten the chance to meet him personally, but of what he could see now, the pure sense of happiness now present on her face, made it unnecessary for him to know anything more because that's all he had ever wanted for her, to be happy and to be safe, but a part of him still felt the hurt creeping in at knowing that he had been replaced, and that this man was now the source of her happiness, just like he used to be.

He had been staring at her wordlessly for ten minutes now, blocking out everything around him, except the voice in his head, telling him now to let go and as the minutes went on, the voice got even louder, to the point where he could literally feel it coming from right behind him and upon craning his neck just to make sure, he was suddenly met with the entity once again , looking upon him and then looking towards the scene of kate and sawyer happily laughing with each other.

"God she's easy isn't she?" the figure said, already raising a spark in jack for talking about her in that way, but to his annoyance the figure went on anyway.

"What has it been three years since she lost her son and she's already screwin some other guy, what do you think of that jack?" the figure asked, challenging him in some ways to do something about this, but jack however just hung his head and closed his eyes while counting to five, in hopes that the voice would dissipate and leave him alone once and for all when he reached five. However with each count, the figure inched himself even closer and spoke right into jack's ear now, telling him to finish it, to end it once and for all, and it didn't stop until jack suddenly grasped hold of his now buzzing head and let out a primal yell to make it stop once and for all.

"SHUT UP" he screamed as a last attempt and to his good luck the voice was gone but the realisation of what he just did didn't. He had managed to not only gain the attention of his more than freaked out friend, but also of the couple who were situated not so very far off, with nothing but shock present on their faces and for different reasons altogether.

Once jack opened his eyes, he too came to the realisation and raised his gaze to suddenly fall upon The one and only...

"Jack?" kate managed to get out not believing her eyes in the slightest and before she could have the chance to walk up and talk to him, he was already sprinting off wordlessly towards the direction of his car. However she didn't give up there and decided to follow him instead while leaving sawyer confused and alone once again. To her good luck she managed to get to him in time and as he attempted to open the door of his car, she grasped hold of that very arm and with that she willed him to look at her and when he did, she felt her heart break for him once again.

His face had reverted itself back to the gloomy and pained way it used to be, but that's not what broke her heart the most. What broke her heart was the fact that his eyes were now red and he had tears streaking his face and he didn't seem to be holding them back either, because in some ways he was sick, sick and tired of hiding what he was feeling and not being able to express it to the people he felt it towards. So with that she attempted to pull him into her embrace, but he surprised her when he suddenly backed away from her completely, released himself from her and then wordlessly stepped into his car and drove off somewhere far, far away.

Once he was out of sight, she just collapsed onto the floor and broke down completely at knowing that she was not only hurting him still, but she was hurting herself as well, for lying to herself and investing herself into a relationship that she knew would never last, not when she was so obviously in love with someone else and lucky for her there was a person only a feet away from her thinking the same thing. They had to come to a decision sooner or later or they would both end up hurting themselves in the end, sawyer thought to himself with nothing but pain and regret now present in his heart.

_(Meanwhile)_

He had been driving for over half an hour now and the only brief stop he had made on the way was at a small liquor shop, which he surmised was now the easiest cure for the pain and with that he was off on his journey, to nowhere. He just wanted to get away from all of it. The craziness, the pain, all of it, and when he felt it was okay and bearable enough for him to endure, then he would stop. However the very next minute he was forced to stop when through his hazy and unclear gaze, he immediately caught sight of an oncoming car now heading his way and when the car was literally inches from him, he made the sudden decision to swerve in the right direction, and as a result he crashed himself into the nearest tree which was the only thing that now stood in the way of his speeding and out of control car.

**Hey guys sorry I had to do this but I promise you that this is not the end, it's just the beginning of the creepiness and angst that will ensue, and the jate will start to show itself a little more. So what do you think guys??**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

**Hey guys here's the next update and don't worry about jack because I'm far from done with him. Hehe. Anyway here it is and once again thank you so much guys for the lovely reviews and I hope you'll like this one as well ;)**

Enjoy

The last thing he remembered witnessing was a bright light blinding him and then everything suddenly went black with a massive thud. Now all he could see was the utter wreck his car was in and upon closer inspection, he now noticed that he was pinned firmly to his car seat by the branch that was inches away from piercing right through his shoulder. _Great, just great, this is just what I damn well need, _he said to himself while straining to get free from his virtually crushed up car.

Five minutes later and he was still stuck in the same position , getting even more frantic by the second. Firstly at the fact that he could see smoke now coming out of the mangled bonnet and secondly because he was trying to get over his long childhood fear of being confined to small cramped up places. As the years went on he had gradually tried to overcome it, but now being forcefully trapped in here made the fear and the realisation all come back making him even get more frantic, and it didn't seem to subside in the slightest when his gaze suddenly caught sight of a figure now standing right in front of his smashed up car, looking straight at him, showing no emotion whatsoever.

At first he put it down to a simple hallucination, but as the time went on the figure started to become more clearer, mainly because it was now inching it's way over to his side of the car and when the little boy, he now clearly noted, was standing right in front of him, he stretched out his little hand in an obvious gesture for it to be taken. In response jack was a little wary at first due to the primary fact that he had never seen this boy before, but as he gazed into the little boy's crystal blue eyes, he saw something familiar within, although he couldn't quite decipher it just yet, he felt that he could trust this innocent soul, so with that he attempted to reach out for the boy and much to his good luck and surprise, he managed to free himself from his seat and get the car door opened with ease and once he was out, his hand locked around the little boy's hand almost out of instinct. A thing he constantly used to do it with Kevin. Be it out of the house or even in the house, jack was always there to hold his son's hand and be the attentive father he always wanted his own father to be till this very day, but unlucky for him, his family had disinherited him in some ways ever since he decided to become a police officer.

"Where are you taking me?" jack asked the still blank looking figure who just ignored him in response and wordlessly pulled him further into the thickness of the jungle that was spread out before them, safely hiding anything that existed within it's depths.

"Hey where are we going?" jack asked again with more urgency and determination while making the move to stop in his tracks to get a response once and for all.

"You have to come with me" the boy simply instructed while pulling jack along, leaving little room for any argument in response.

"Where?" jack still replied while bending over to the boy's level to try and get the little guy to explain to him what exactly was going on because so far all he could think about weirdly enough was her. He really regretted with the way things had ended between them, especially today . He knew he had no right to make judgements on the way she wanted to live her life, including who she was with as well, but he still couldn't ignore the hurt of seeing her happy in the arms of another man.

"We're here" the boy announced, snapping jack out of his concise thinking, only to now be completely confused and baffled at what he was currently seeing at the moment.

"You live here all by yourself" jack dumbly asked the boy eliciting a little chuckle out of him and making jack start to realise what he had just said and with that he just joined in with boy's laughter.

"No silly, mommy's home." the boy replied and with that he forcefully pulled jack along with him towards the direction of the fairly secluded cabin, that looked quite old and worn out as he briefly observed while still being pulled by the boy.

When they were at the front door and about to enter, it was suddenly opened from the other side to only reveal a small petite and terrified blonde woman, who just spent the next few minutes staring wide eyed at the stranger her son had brought along with him. However they were both brought out of the moment by the little boy squealing to get his mother's attention and in response the woman just bent down to the boy's level to hopefully get an explanation out of him.

"Aaron what did I tell you about strangers." the woman instructed in a warning like tone that just made the boy bend his head down in shame and then respond by simply saying….

"I just wanted someone who could play with me, just like daddy would mommy." the boy sadly admitted making both adults share and relate in some ways to his pain and longing, but for different reasons.

"Aaron we've talked about this, now just go to your room while I talk to your new friend here" she said upon taking a quick glance at the uncomfortable looking man who literally had no idea as to what was going on.

"But mommy I ….."the boy tried to reason one last time with his mother who in return was adamant on maintaining the instructions she had asked of him and with one more look, the boy relented and dragged his feet upstairs while looking at jack one last time in an almost pleading way, but jack never even took note of it because he was too consumed with the endless thoughts that plagued him . _Am I here for a reason? Am I even alive? _He asked himself and just to make sure, he pinched himself and the wincing pain he received as a result was a clear enough sign to suggest that he indeed was and that this was really happening, although he still couldn't decipher still why he was here and now?

"Hey I'm sorry about what happened. Why don't you come on in, cause you look like you need help" the woman commented while noticing the deep gash on the side of his head that he never even knew was there, until now. At first he was about to object and turn her offer down, but as he looked back at the dark and dense jungle behind him, he knew that it would be safer to just stay here until it was light again.

"Are you sure you don't mind uhh.." jack offered out of courtesy and then stretched out his hand in a friendly gesture.

"Claire, it's Claire. Now come in before you bleed to death" the young woman replied while accepting his friendly gesture with a warm smile to go with it.

"Jack. Thanks I really appreciate it." he replied while slowly walking in past the blonde who quickly looked around everywhere as if somebody was watching them the whole time and when she suddenly caught sight of jack now looking upon her strangely, she immediately passed the weirdness off with a smile and then shut the door and made her way to the kitchen to retrieve the first aid kit which was always kept there.

"So what brings you to this neck of the woods?" Claire joked while ushering him to take a seat at the dining table so she could tend to his wounds. In response jack just let out a little laugh, but he too wondered what really brought him here and why? He wondered as the blonde woman wordlessly continued to tend to his wounds, and when she was done they were both put into an awkward silence, that was until jack decided to break, trying to satisfy his ever growing curiosity of this place.

"So does anyone live around here?" jack casually asked the blonde who just went silent for a minute and then went about with making a suitable response.

"Uh well it's just me, my son and my……my husband" she revealed hesitantly making jack nod in response to mainly cover up the confusion he was experiencing at the moment, although he didn't have the time to act upon expressing it at the moment as he suddenly saw the blonde's eyes widening when she glanced at the clock.

"Hey is everything alright?" jack asked as he too stood up when the blonde started to clear up everything in a more than hurried fashion. She still didn't respond to his comment right away, instead she just went about cleaning any kind of trace that anybody may have been here apart from her and her son. Jack on the other hand was completely baffled as to what was suddenly happening, but he had a faint idea that it had something to do with this husband of hers he hadn't even seen any trace of he weirdly thought, when he briefly had the chance to look around the expanse of the apartment and the secrets it still hid, especially one.

"Claire is everything alright?" jack asked once again while taking hold of her shoulders and stopping her from continuing on with her frantic clean up. In response all the blonde did was hang her head to keep a hold on her tears that were threatening to fall out at remembering what had happened not so long ago. However in the end she managed to try and suppress the aching in her heart for the moment to try and respond to the genuinely worried man in front of her.

"Huh oh yeah, look why don't you stay here tonight, we have a spare bedroom and it's good to have some life around here" she offered not even realising that she had just slipped up. However to her good luck jack never caught on because he was too busy thinking over her offer. Whether he wanted to accept it or not, he really had no choice but to accept, because firstly he had no idea where he was in the first place and secondly he unfortunately lost his phone in the crash and judging by the quick observation he had made of this house, there didn't seem to be a phone around anywhere, so with that he slightly nodded in an agreeing manner with the very jumpy woman standing in front of him, waiting for a response before he returned.

(Meanwhile)

Following the incident at the park, they had both wordlessly decided to go home almost immediately, not even saying anything to each other on the way, because in some ways there was nothing left to say as it had already been laid out to them loud and clear, especially for sawyer who didn't know what to feel at this point for it was all hitting him at once. The hurt, the anger and the realisation of what he suspected was there all this time, despite his best efforts to convince her and himself to believe that they could somehow move on from this and come out better in the end, but as he glanced at her looking blankly at the road ahead, he knew that he was sadly mistaken.

Ten minutes later and sawyer was parking the car in the driveway while kate just sat in her seat still thinking of how much she had hurt him. That one look was now etched into her mind. Never had she seen him so broken and defeated and it made her feel worse because she knew that she was the source of it.

"You okay?" sawyer announced while coming over to her side of the car to find out anyway and all she did in response was faintly nod and then walk right past him and into the house in an almost trance like state, which made him really mad at first, but again the realisation kicked in and with that he locked up and followed her into the house preparing and assuring himself that it was about time to have that talk because she couldn't keep on living this and neither could he.

**Hey guys there it is and next chapter we will see the all anticipated talk between kate and sawyer and what will happen as a result of it, and what is Claire hiding? Anyhoo so what do you think guys? Please review and make me a happy bunny ;)**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

**Hey guys I'm back with the continuation of the last update and we'll finally find out what is actually going on and I'll try to work in a few requests within this chapter cough foxy tied to a bed cough, hehe. Hope you guys like this update and thank you once again for reading and reviewing, it truly means the world to me guys so thanks so much and please keep them comin ;)**

Enjoy

_(Flashback)_

"_You ready?" the small man asked the smiling blonde who was more than ready for a good day out with her son and husband._

"_Daddy let's go before the sun goes away." the little boy stressed while pulling his father's hand towards the path of the lake they were going to spend their day at. _

"_Okay, okay c'mon then" the man kept on saying to the child while retrieving the little picnic basket from the blue eyed blonde woman whose face was now shining with nothing but happiness under the little summer hat she had insisted on wearing earlier on, because even though the sun wasn't that strong today, she still wanted to play along and make out that it was and whatever made her happy made him happy, so he finally relented in the end and granted her wishes, just like he always did, even before they were married._

_Fifteen minutes later and they were at their destination, with their little boy just itching to go in for a swim in the still lake that spread out in front of them. However the little guy had to wait for a little longer because his cool but protective mother was still a little wary of allowing him to swim within the depths of the deep lake. _

"_I promise I won't let go of him. I'll be with him all the way" the man offered, sensing the wary and troubled look that now lurked within her gaze at the thought of letting her son go in there, however as she stared back into those lovely hazel, blue eyes their son had so gladly inherited, she couldn't help but feel more comforted and reassured more than ever, and with that she offered him a warm smile and nodded in an agreeing gesture to his request, or more so their son's request as he had been begging his parents non stop for this. _

"_Okay a quick swim while I prepare everything" the woman replied slowly giving in and eliciting a yelp of joy from not only the little boy who was hiding behind his father listening in closely, but his father as well who just gave his beautiful wife a quick peck on the lips and with that he threw the little boy over his shoulder and carried his giggling form towards the direction of the lake, whilst the woman just looked on at the scene with nothing but a content smile spreading across her peaceful features once again._

"_Look at me Daddy" the boy squealed while attempting to swim backwards just like his dad had taught him a few minutes ago, although things started to make a change for the worse when the skies started to suddenly turn black suggesting the beginning of rain, and it worsened even further when it was accompanied by the brief strikes of lightening that were now appearing and hitting fairly low, much to the woman's worry who could do nothing but call out to them to get out of the lake soon before it got any worse._

_However her view of the two people in the water was suddenly wiped completely when lightening suddenly struck the branch of a nearby tree, sending it's thick and heavy weighty branch splashing into the water and on top of the very two people who were now swimming their hardest against the strong current that now possessed the lake. With seeing that she threw all fears aside of drowning and jumped into the water to save her family, whom she hoped were still alive. _

"_Charlie, Aaron" the woman screamed out while trying to stay still and composed while attempting to swim within the strong current which was getting even stronger with each boom of thunder that pounded the sky, making it echo through the blackening clouds. _

_(End of Flashback)_

"Claire" the small man shouted after he came through the front door of their humble and secluded Cabin. At first he failed to get a response and with that his sense of worry kicked in when she didn't even reply on his second call. _Where was she?_ He immediately wondered as he walked upstairs to check and see if she was sleeping.

Over the past few months, he had been feeling weird. Like there was something he was supposed to realize and then do as a result, but thankfully Claire and Aaron were there to make the sinking feeling within him slowly subside, but as of late it had started to appear again and this time it was more stronger and determined to make him realize what he failed to remember. Following the accident which happened a few months ago, things from there on had been different, not only for him, but for the way Claire started to act around him. At one point his thoughts drifted towards infidelity and following that he became wild with fury and what surprised him the most as a result were the things that started frantically flying around in the room he was currently in at that moment. _How is this possible?_ He wondered, right away fearing the answer because he didn't want to change in any way. He wanted to be the same man he always was, the man who loved his wife and son.

"Claire" he called again more loudly and the very next minute she was in front of him trying to catch her breath back from obviously doing something he wasn't aware of in the slightest and that worried him again.

"Hi, how was your day?" Claire uttered while putting on a smile, hoping that he would not realize that they had a visitor sleeping not so far off from where they were standing now.

"Well you seem awfully chipper today, love" Charlie replied, getting mesmerised once again by the smile that always made his heart melt and lucky for her it made him also forget all about what Claire was currently hiding in the room next door to Aaron's.

"Well I'm just happy that I have my husband with me, finally" Claire sweetly said to her husband and then made the gesture for him follow her to the room they shared, which was just down the hall, but just before he decided to retire along with Claire, he wanted to check on Aaron first and see how he was. At first Claire made the effort to stop him, but it was clearly too late as he had already spotted something out of the corner of his eye, and it was something or someone he noted on closer observation, as he opened the jarred down even further to reveal an unknown form now sleeping soundly and peacefully in the bed he thought was vacant all of this time.

"What the hell is going on Claire?" Charlie hissed at the now frightened blonde in the doorway who kept on looking at her feet, thinking of a suitable explanation for what he was seeing at the minute. _He's just a friend, _she reminded herself, _what was so wrong with that?_ So with that now in mind she raised her gaze to meet his so she could finally explain herself, but being the kind of person he was, he had already formed a conclusion to his suspicions and judging by the look of pure fury now present on his face, it wasn't anything to look forward to and before she could get a word in and make him think otherwise, the door suddenly shut itself in her face on it's own accord much to her assumption, because she really had no idea what her changed husband was capable of at this point.

"Charlie, please. Please don't hurt him." Claire pleaded while now pounding on the door, not even realizing that there was a little boy watching the whole scene from the doorway to his own room.

(Meanwhile on the other side)

"Hey man it's not what you…" a very awake and alert Jack managed to get out before he was interrupted by an object flying across the room and missing his face by inches, making him think twice about angering this man any further.

"Shut the hell up mate, just…" Charlie managed to get out before he was hit with a sudden jolt of energy that not only raised a new bout of confidence within him, but it also rejuvenated him into a state where he felt more alive than ever. So alive that he was now able to retrieve the baseball bat he had kept hidden behind the closet, so he that he could use it to act on his anger in the best way for the moment.

The whole time Jack was completely astounded by this display, and just like what had been happening to him as of late, it yet again had no logical sense behind it, even with trying his hardest to understand it. However the thing that suddenly snapped him out of his reverie was the bat the smaller man was now grasping tightly within his hand ready to make a mind blowing shot any minute, and the very next minute all Jack saw was a black void of nothing and he felt himself slowly slipping away with it.

She had been waiting anxiously on the other side of the door for a good solid fifteen minutes and suddenly she was welcomed with the pained and betrayed like appearance of her husband who just continued to stand in front of her for a few more minutes while trying to control his growing hurt and anger to considerable level, now that he knew what he could cause as a result of it, as he looked back at the shattered room behind him.

"Charlie what did yo…" Claire started to say but she was cut off once again by the person in front of her.

"He's not to leave this room, understand" Charlie instructed loudly and clearly while pointing at the unconscious figure whose hands and legs were now securely tied to the bed, making little chance for escape, even if the person did regain consciousness once again.

"Please just let me explain" Claire pleaded with her husband one last time, but all she got in return was their bedroom door being slammed, displaying his obvious annoyance with her and all she could do in return was try and tend to the unconscious and slightly beaten up form that still laid tied to the bed, not making any move whatsoever.

"Mommy what's going on ?" a little voice spoke up, startling Claire and stopping her from moving any further.

"What are you doing up sweetheart, go back to bed" she uttered softly while bending down to his level and running her fingers through his thick mop of golden brown hair, a look which made him so innocent and pure. A perfect representation of the relationship and devotion she shared with the only man she still loved dearly till this day, with all her still fragile heart could muster.

"I heard shouting. Is Daddy okay?" Aaron asked his mother making her simply feel like breaking down completely at that point, because she hated lying to him, like she had done all this time, but she knew that if she did tell him the truth, then it would devastate and break his little heart even further. So with that she managed to suppress her tears for the time being and then came up with a suitable response, one that would convince him and ease his worry.

"Yeah sweetie Daddy's fine, he's just a little tired that's all but he'll be…" she started to say but was cut off by her now anxious son.

"Is Mr. Jack okay, can I see him?" Aaron asked with hope in his heart because firstly living within a secluded area and secondly being an only child, didn't really leave that many options open for having a fun time as the little guy would so often describe it to his parents.

"I'm sorry honey but Mr. Jack is kinda tired as well, but come tomorrow and we'll do something, promise" Claire offered while sticking her pinkie finger out in a gesture of assurance Aaron had come to know off since he was a little toddler. So with sticking his little pinkie finger out as well and locking it with hers , he nodded his head frantically and then ran back to his room, leaving her to close the door to Jack's room and then drag her feet back to the room she still shared with her husband, whom she hoped was in a better mood.

The last thing he remembered seeing was incoherent shouting between two people and then the next minute everything went dark and now he was here, strapped securely to the bed in a gesture that he was an obvious threat of some kind. _Did I do something? _He suddenly wondered as he continuously tried to break free from the confines that still held him against his will. His next resort was trying to call for help, but as he made the gesture to do so, his gaze suddenly caught sight of a small humble form standing at the side of the now open doorway to the room he was in at the moment. The complete darkness which still lingered within the expanse of the room made it hard for him to decipher the identity of the form and as a result his thoughts went right away to one possible assumption.

"Kevin?" Jack uttered, his heart now full of hope, as the figure neared itself to him even closer at the mention of that name, but as the figure came closer, more of it's features started to reveal itself and with that his hope was shattered, but somehow that disappointment now slowly turned into a sense of consolation at being adorned with the presence of the little boy he had, had the unexpected pleasure of being with earlier on today.

"Hey" Aaron said while offering the man infront of him a full blown smile that made Jack chuckle in response and then get nostalgic over the one thing Kevin used to constantly do, smile. In all his years of seeing babies, even his own friend Marc's, he had never known of a baby to smile as much as his little Kevin did. However, the very thought of the pleasant memory was enough to make him realize the painful reality of what had happened, and with that he reverted to focusing on the present, starting with trying to break free from the confines.

The whole time Aaron was watching this and when the man failed each time, he suddenly took it upon himself to try and help in some way, and twenty minutes later Jack was now free thanks to the combined effort.

"Sorry that my Daddy did this to you. He really wasn't like this before, but he has changed a lot since…" the little boy started off but then drifted to the memory of what had happened down at the lake that day and with that he failed to go on, which left Jack a little worried and slightly curious as well as to what was going on, but as he now saw the little boy's lip start to tremble, he immediately sensed what was going to happen and before the boy could break down and let go, jack wordlessly pulled him into his lap and slowly rocked his crying form from side to side, just like he would do with his own son, he clearly remembered.

For the next ten minutes, he kept on rocking him, that was until he felt that the boy was composed enough to go on and when he was, he simply pulled away and gave the boy a comforting smile and with that Aaron just sat opposite to the man on the bed while frantically wiping the tears away from his little eyes, feeling so ashamed for being so weak and vulnerable, but to a certain extent he couldn't help it because it was too painful to keep it pent up inside of him for so long.

"So what do you do for fun around here?" Jack asked trying to lighten the mood in the room. In response the boy just sighed and thought about the question with concise thinking.

"Well not much really, I mean before, Grandad used to come visit us, but he hasn't been coming lately" Aaron admitted, sighing once again in sadness at the last part.

"Why's that?" Jack inquired, feeling a deep sense of relation to this boy sitting in front of him.

"Mommy tells me that he has a very important job to do" the boy replied making Jack feel an unexpected feeling of disgust rise within him, because he and his father had a similar relationship and the fact that it was also happening to someone so small and innocent, seriously made his blood boil.

"You wanna see a picture of him?" Aaron anxiously offered and without giving Jack a chance to respond, the little guy was off to his room in lightening speed and a few minutes later he was back, all excited and holding a picture frame in his little right hand. All Jack could do was smile warmly in response and then pull the boy into his lap once again while taking a look at the picture in the frame and then feeling nothing but shock and surprise of what he was seeing at the moment.

**Hey guys there it is, and I know I said that I was gonna have the all impending skate talk in this chapter and I was gonna put it in at the end, but then I thought that it deserved a good amount of importance, because it's one of the pinnacle moments within this fic, so I've pushed it to the next chapter instead, which will be up as soon as possible. Please don't be mad guys, because I promise that this will all work out in the end. Promise. Anyhoo so what do you think so far guys?? More reviews makes the update come faster ;)**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

**Hey guys. First off I'm so glad that you guys are liking this story and from now we'll see some changes beginning to occur, especially for Jack. Anyhoo without further interruption here it is guys and thanks so much for the lovely reviews. They really put a smile on my face and it gets even bigger when I see my inbox full of them so thanks and I hope you guys will like this update as well ;)**

Enjoy

_It's all my fault! _She kept on saying to herself as she laid down on the bed next to the man she wasn't sure she wanted to be with anymore. Not because she didn't to, but because she felt that she deserved to be alone right now so that she could allow herself to get some clarity, especially with her feelings. _What do I want? _She suddenly asked herself in an attempt to ease her worry and within that very moment she now looked to the side of her and was met with the bare back of a man apparently sleeping soundly, she assumed and with that she quietly slipped out of bed, so that she could make what would have been the seventh call to the same number, getting the same message in return, but trying none the less. However not everyone was born with that kind of resilience, and besides there was only so much a person could take, Sawyer said to himself as he watched her retreat into the next room, leaving him alone once again.

"Jack it's me, where are you? Please pick me up. Please just call me back" she spoke into the phone, her hand trembling with worry and fear the whole time.

"Nothing" a deep voice announced itself from behind her, startling her at first and then slowly easing when she noticed who it was. So with that she just nodded in negation to his statement and mumbled an excuse while making the move to walk past him again, only this time she was stopped by his arm now grasping hers and when he didn't seem to let go, she just looked up and saw the reason within his eyes.

"We gotta talk" he simply replied while letting go of her arm and then ushering her to sit on the bed. Whether she like it or not, they were gonna talk about this once and for all.

"There's nothing to talk about. Please I'm gonna be late for work" Kate tried offering on the way so that she could avoid this, but he failed to listen to her at this point, because he was sick and tired of the endless amount of excuses for the man he thought she had moved on from.

"Please Sawyer just let it go I….." Kate tried to get out while she was forced to sit on the end of the bed with his hand which was now tightly grasping hers with nothing but determination. Determination for an explanation and a way to make him think otherwise.

"You love him?" he simply asked while attempting to stare at her straight in the eye, so that he could get his answer once and for all. In response to this she just hung her head once again and tried to push back the tears of the sudden realisation of his statement. _Did she still have feelings for him in the way she knew he did, judging by the way he looked at her that day in the park? _She wondered, but unfortunately she had little time to dwell on it as she saw Sawyer suddenly get up from the bed to retrieve his clothes, seemingly getting his answer just by her moment of thoughtful silence. At this point he had nothing to say, nothing he wanted to say, because her silence was enough to convince him that he had been nothing but a damn fool to believe that this could still work.

"Sawyer please just give me a chance to…" she managed to get out before he just turned on her suddenly, glaring at her with anger over having been played with in this way.

"Don't bother sweetheart" he growled out and with that he harshly brushed past her and walked out. The slamming of the front door assuring her of the fact that this was finally over and that this was all her fault again, she said to herself as she succumbed to her sobs to try and work through the pain.

Halfway through her sobs and she was suddenly brought back to reality by her phone going off and her thoughts once again ran immediately to the one man who had constantly been on her mind lately.

"Jack are you…" she expressed in a hurried and anxious fashion, but was stopped when she now noticed by the tone of the voice, determining it to be the one and only….

"Hey Marc what's up why are y…" she uttered in a tired manner, but she was soon alerted on hearing his name now being mentioned on the other side of the phone and judging by the way Marc was hesitating to go on, she knew that it was something bad.

"Kate….maybe you should just come down here." Marc said into the phone while now standing on the side of the now secluded road, apart from a few police officers who were trying to make a logical explanation for the cause of the tragic accident.

"Just tell me what the hell's going on Marc!!" Kate screeched into the phone. Her voice so emotional and broken, that she could barely find the will or determination to take her next breath, not until she knew he was okay.

"It's Ja.. we found Jack's car and it looks pretty bad Kate" Marc sadly confessed to the now gasping brunette on the line.

"Where are you right now?" she asked while getting herself ready for the journey.

"Uh, I'm on highway 42 so I'll see.." he managed to get out before he heard her already disconnecting on the other end, frantic to know if he was okay, just like he was trying to convince himself at the moment. However as he took in the scene once again, he this time caught sight of a tinted jet black car and soon two people vacated from it. A short brown haired man and a blonde woman whom he had never seen before.

(Meanwhile)

He couldn't hear anything, couldn't feel anything because the shock of what he was seeing was too much to handle. All of this time he was constantly led to believe that he was nothing but a disappointment to his family, his Father to be exact, but now looking at the picture of his own father, he couldn't help but wonder the same of him.

"Are you okay Mr. Jack?" Aaron asked the distracted man who failed to answer him at first, but as he attempted to, they were both suddenly distracted by another voice announcing itself at the doorway.

"Aaron what are you doing here. I told you not to bother Mr. Jack." Claire scolded the little boy who briefly hung his head down in shame and then came up with a reasonable excuse.

"I just wanted to show him a picture Grandpa Mommy. I neve…" the boy attempted to get out before his mother shushed him and then told him to just go to bed before he got himself into more trouble. Much to her relief the boy followed her instruction and stomped his feet the whole way back. A gesture that made Jack want to smile, as he faintly remembered behaving in that very manner when he didn't get what he wanted.

Once Aaron was gone, the blonde just turned back to the quiet and curious man now sitting on the edge of the bed still holding the picture of her Father in his hand.

"I see you met my Dad then" the blonde teased while pointing at the picture and making the man chuckle in response, but then turn serious at the realisation of what he had just found out. He knew he couldn't ask her for sure straight away, but he wasn't gonna give up and pass it off. It wasn't how he functioned.

"Yeah, Aaron told me that he used come visit" Jack replied while taking a look at the picture again.

"Yeah well that all changed when…" she started to confess and then stopped herself half way through knowing that she couldn't tell him the reason, simply because it was too painful to deal with, along with everything else that recently happened as well.

"I better go back to bed before he wakes up. Look why don't you go in the meantime. I can make some excuse or…" she tried saying, but within seconds of hearing that Jack was off the bed, grasping her shoulders tightly in an attempt to be listened to.

"Listen Claire I'm not leaving until I know that you and Aaron are safe" Jack offered, his serious and determined expression showing her that he wasn't kidding in the slightest. Although the thing which puzzled her the most was why he cared so much, all of a sudden.

"You don't have to do that Jack" she replied while looking ridiculously upon him but Jack still failed to give up there.

"Yes I do. Please just trust me on this and I will…" Jack instructed, but was stopped by another voice coming from down the hall.

"Claire, Claire" the man called out while walking in the direction of the room Jack was in.

"Oh my god. Hurry, hide" Claire expressed hurriedly while pushing the tall man in the direction of the small bathroom which was located in the corner of the room. Every fibre within him was telling him to stay put and face this man who was slowly corrupting his new found Sister's life_. Wow sister that sounds weird, _he briefly mused to himself while being pushed frantically towards the direction of the bathroom and when he was halfway in there, Claire briefly peeked her head in, to tell him to lay low until it was clear to come out, and with that she shut the door and readied herself to face her husband, and she didn't have to wait long as the very next minute he appeared right in front of her out of thin air, now looking at the empty bed.

"Where is he?" he simply asked of her, his voice low and dangerous as he saw her hang her head to mainly think of a plausible idea, and as her gaze suddenly caught sight of the open window located on the side of the bed, she just kept looking at it, forcing him to do the same as well.

"So how did he bloody get free?" he questioned her while focusing his complete attention on her now, the anger slowly rising within him to the point where he could no longer think about anything else. However as this was happening, he started to feel a slight weakness slowly rising as well, and as the feeling grew, he started to feel light headed.

"Charlie are you okay?" Claire asked while attempting to walk forward, but she was forcefully stopped by his yell of anguish and with that, every particle that constructed his form started to disintegrate and drift away with the air, now leaving her alone, scared and emotional cause she knew that he would be back, just like he always would every night, for the last few months.

**Hey guys, there it is so far. So what will happen to Claire and Aaron, and can Jack get them out before Charlie returns? Will Claire trust Jack? All will be answered within the next chapter guys and the new characters will also be officially introduced as well. Actually they were briefly mentioned in this chapter, but in the next one we'll finally get to meet them. So what do you think so far guys??**

**P.S. I don't hate Charlie at all and don't worry guys cause his character will come around, and I can also assure you that we haven't seen the last of Sawyer.**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

**Hey guys I'm back and with another update as well. So without further interruption here it is and once again thank you so much for the lovely reviews. They are seriously better than receiving candy so please keep them comin cause they really mean a lot to me, and they also help me to improve as a writer as well ;)**

**P.S. I just wanted to let you guys know as well that I've also put up a Party of five fic called "Salingers : The Younger Years". So if you guys wanna check it out then please feel free to click on my profile and enjoy. Thanks ;)**

Enjoy

For the next few minutes she just stayed frozen to the spot where Charlie once was. Not being able to form any explanation whatsoever for what had just happened right in front of her only moments ago, and she didn't even get a chance to take the time to come up with one, as she suddenly grasped in a hurried fashion by another form behind her. One she had come to know as…

"Jack what are you doing?" Claire asked ridiculously, while attempting to free herself from his more than possessive grip. However much to her bad luck he failed to let go and she could see now that he was doing it for a reason, and whatever that reason was, she knew that it credited a certain amount of importance. So with that in mind she calmed down and willed herself to look into his eyes while trying to push the endless flood of tears back.

"Claire please just listen to me alright. " Jack asked while looking at her straight in the eye to get the true and valid form of agreement from her. In response she just nodded in agreement and briefly hung her head to suppress a sob.

"What happened to him?" he silently asked her and all he got in response was a sharp but painful gaze from her. A sure enough sign that it was a tedious subject but at this point he really had no choice because if he didn't know what happened then there was n way he could help his family. So with that he attempted to ask her again but this time she just ripped her arm from his with all the force her sudden anger could muster and as she was about to step out, she was stopped once again by Jack asking her trust him.

"Why are you doing this?" Claire asked him in a trembling and pained voice, not being able to sustain the anger within her anymore simply because she was too weak to handle anymore.

"I'm doing this because I care about you. You and Aaron." Jack replied in an attempt to reason with her and hopefully make her accepting of his help.

"Yeah well no one is asking you to. I've done this on my own for quite a while now and I don't need anyone's help, thank you." she spat at him in annoyance over his sheer stubbornness. A trait she was weirdly known for as well.

"Look Claire you can't stay here. It's not safe for you or Aaron." Jack stressed in a last ditch effort to try and change her mind, because he knew that he would worry if he left them here. She and Aaron were his family now, and he wasn't about to lose that as well. However as Claire chose to respond, the ground beneath them shook with sudden anger, and as they tried to make their way towards Aaron's room, the shaking got more urgent and determined. It almost seemed like this sensation was targeting them and them only.

"Claire where's Aaron?" Jack shouted out to the distressed blonde who couldn't seem to think straight at the moment, due to all the commotion around her.

However in that very moment a voice spoke out to her not so far away from where she was currently standing, and upon looking around to see where it came from, she was suddenly met with two blurred forms stationed right in front of Aaron's doorway, and with that she went on to satisfy her curiosity, despite Jack's pleas.

"Claire where are you going?" Jack ridiculously inquired while following her closely to the source of her curiosity.

"Claire we…." Jack managed to get out before he too was suddenly mesmerised by the form now standing right in front of him holding a little boy's hand.

"Dad?" Jack and Claire both uttered at the same time and as a result of that, the two just turned to each other and gazed at one another with nothing but shock and confusion now masking their expressions. Claire more so than Jack as he already had a vague idea that he certainly wasn't an only child anymore. Not after seeing that picture of Aaron's grandfather.

"Follow me" Christian instructed while pulling the boy with him towards the direction of sure safety, but as he briefly looked back at his children, he saw that they were so lost and confused that he didn't know what to do next. So with that he tried to snap them out of it by adding a sense of sternness to his tone so that he could finally get through to them before it was too late, and much to his good luck they both looked at him and quickly followed him out, while the house around them slowly crumbled into tragic proportions.

(Meanwhile)

She had been driving for the last half hour, her mind frantic over Jack's well being. _He has to be okay cause if he wasn't I would know, I would feel it,_ she kept on saying to herself without even thinking behind the true meaning of that very expression.

A few minutes later and she was met with the scene of Jack's accident. Marc waiting anxiously for her arrival, although judging by his expression she could tell that he was hiding something else as well. Regardless of that however she got out of her car and walked up to him, while taking in the scene in front pf her.

"Where is he?" was the first thing she asked as she averted her gaze from the crashed car she knew was Jack's. In response all Marc did was hang his head, clearly signalling to the brunette that it was something she had been dreading to accept ever since she found out about his accident. _No he's okay, he's alive,_ she kept on saying to herself, trying to reassure and ease her conscience to a somewhat sustainable level so that she could focus on her next move.

"Have they sent out a search party?" she asked him and his silence in return once again not only raised a sense of fear within her, but it also aggravated her at the very fact that they had already given up on him. Assuming that there was nothing that could be done from this point on, and within that very moment she came up with a decision. One that only involved her and her alone.

"Kate where are you going?" Marc asked as he saw her now moving towards the direction of the jungle. In response all she did was glare at him while saying…

"I'm not giving up on him." she replied in a stern manner, and with that she disappeared within the expanse of the wild jungle. Solely relying on not only her hope, but also her tracking skills which she thankfully acquired when she was younger.

Marc on the other hand couldn't really do anything other than hope as well that she would find him, and also hope that no one had seen her sneak off into the jungle, and as he looked around the scene, he was relieved to find that everyone was too busy dealing with interviewing any possible witnesses or warding off any oncoming traffic. However what he didn't see was the two figures standing not so far off from where he currently was. Watching everything he did, including seeing Kate sneak off into the jungle.

"Follow her Jules while I find out a few things!" the small man instructed to the person beside him, who just nodded in an agreeing manner and then proceeded with her order.

"Hello" a voice suddenly announced itself, startling Marc out of his gaze on the jungle and then forcing him to turn around to only be met with a person he had never met before.

"Well I believe that we haven't met before. I'm Benjamin Linus, but most of my colleagues call me Ben." the small man introduced himself while holding his hand out to the weary man in front of him, but for the moment Marc just pushed those feelings aside and returned the sentiment while smiling and nodding at the man in a friendly gesture.

"So what do you do Mr. Linus?" Marc casually asked while taking a brief look at the small man in front of him. Of what he could decipher from the way he was dressed, he concluded that he must have been an investigator of some kind, but little did he know what or who this man was really here for.

"Well I mostly work privately, but sometimes I try and help out here in cases like these, and please call me Ben. I mean we're the good guys right?" Ben offered in response and all Marc did was snicker in response, while trying to push down the growing fear which was dwelling within him at the very sight of this more than creepy man.

(Meanwhile)

They had managed to get out of the cabin before it was shattered completely, which they could now see was due to a massive landslide which had erupted not so far off from where the Cabin was situated.

The first thing Jack did was check on Claire and make sure she was okay, and as he went to do the same with Aaron, he saw that his Father was still holding onto the little boy's hand while smiling almost proudly at the two people in front of him.

"Dad. What are you doing here?" Jack asked him while inching forward wearily.

"It doesn't matter Jack. What matters is that you found each other." he stated while taking a brief glance at a stunned Claire sitting on the jungle floor behind Jack.

"I'm so sorry that it had to happen this way son. That you had to find out about each other like this, but what matters now is that you did find each other, and you can be there for each other when you finally know." Christian expressed while trying his best to push away the light headed feeling he was suddenly experiencing at the moment.

"Know what Dad? What's going on? Jack asked, his voice full of fear and dread and the next second he got his answer when his father's form started to get illuminated by a weird light.

"As I said it doesn't matter Jack. Just know that I love you, all of you, and I always will." Christian managed to get out before the light around him started to get stronger and virtually blinding to the people around it. However Jack failed to give in and decided to walk towards the light to get an answer once and for all, but as he attempted to do so, all he got in return was an empty space with a small form now sitting within it's expanse. A form he had quickly become acquainted with.

"Where did Grandad go?" Aaron innocently asked while looking around to see if he could spot the elderly man. All Jack did in response was lean forward to lift the little boy into his arms so that he could embrace him and his new family.

"Jack?" a trembling voice called out to him, snapping him and the other two individuals out of the scene they had just witnessed.

"Kate?" Jack replied as he walked over to Claire and placed Aaron in her arms, and before he knew it the brunette launched herself into his surprised form. Embracing him so tightly that he could barely breathe, but he didn't once try to pull out of it, mainly because it still felt so right to him. No matter how much they had changed, or who she was with at the moment. So with that he gradually wrapped his arms around her and relished in the all familiar feeling she was igniting within him again.

However as this was happening, they were being carefully watched by a pair of devious eyes. Thinking of the perfect plan to approach her assignment.

**There it is so far guys, and don't worry cause Charlie will be back. I was originally gonna bring him back in this chapter, but now I have plans for him. Plans that will result in him playing a very intricate part within this fic. I also wanted to bring some sort of resolution to this Jack and Claire relationship, and what better person to do it than the one who was originally responsible for it in the first place. We'll also get to see what really happened to Christian. Promise. Anyway so what do you think guys? Please leave a review :)**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10 

**Hey guys I'm back again with a much anticipated update. One that I sincerely apologise for not putting up sooner. So without further interruption here it is, and I hope you guys will like it ;)**

**P.S. thanks for the lovely reviews guys and please keep them comin :)**

Enjoy

He had been holding her safely within his arms for what seemed like hours to him, but he didn't mind it in the slightest because everything felt right again when he was in her arms, it just did. You can't afford to think that way anymore Jack, he said, reminding himself of the harsh reality of their relationship, or even if he could call it that anymore.

"Kate what are you doing here?" he inquired once he pulled away from her, much to her disappointment.

"I thought I had lost you Jack." she literally squeaked out, her voice so bubbled up with emotions at this point, and all he could do in return was stand there in a complete state of confusion as she threw her arms around his neck once again, burying her face into him as much as it would go.

"Hey, hey it's okay. I'm fine. You worry about me too much Miss Austen." he tried soothing her, while slowly rocking her from side to side, and much to his good luck it worked like a charm. Her tears being gradually soothed by the one person who had the power to dissipate her pain completely.

"Yeah well I can't help it, especially when it comes to you." she replied while tightening her arms around his truly gob smacked form.

A few minutes later she finally pulled away from him, while attempting to offer him an apologetic smile as well, but all he did in response was reassure her with a comforting one. Implying that it was completely okay, and with that he turned himself around, with Kate still in his arms, now facing an uncomfortable Claire and a confused Aaron.

"Claire this is Kate my um..." he started off but stopped halfway, not really knowing what to refer her as at this point because her actions a few seconds earlier seemed to overstep the boundaries of a normal friendship just a little bit. However he decided to pass it off quickly by resuming with the introductions, hoping to God that Kate hadn't caught onto his uneasiness.

"Kate this is Claire..." he offered as the brunette reached out her hand for the blonde to shake, but what came out of his mouth next froze her right in her right tracks.

"My sister, and this is her son Aaron." he revealed as the brunette simply gasped in response while looking at him with wide eyes. As a result he couldn't help but laugh at the cuteness of the innocence within her expression. It's what made him fall for her in the first place, and suddenly he felt himself falling again within a matter of minutes.

"It's nice to meet you Claire." Kate politely offered while slowing turning her head and averting her gaze from him so that she could focus more clearly on the uneasy blonde in front of her. She then allowed her gaze to follow to the small boy now standing alongside his mother, hiding his face behind her leg.

"It's nice to meet you too Aaron." Kate spoke softly while crouching down to the boy's level. In response he tried hiding further behind his mother, but with a little coaxing and assurance from Claire that it was okay, he gradually revealed himself to the now gasping brunette before him.

The first name which popped into her head when she saw him was Kevin. He looked every bit him, right down from the way he stood, shy but curious. She could definitely see that this boy was related to the man standing behind her. The man she wanted to befriend again and possibly love as a result.

"Are you gonna take me away from my Mommy?" the boy inquired while his lower lip trembled, suggesting the beginnings of his pain.

"Of course not honey. Why would you think that?" Kate asked softly while attempting to reach out for the boy's hand and in response he just stuck to his Mother even more.

"Cause I saw this thing on the TV once where this little boy was taken away from his mommy and daddy because they didn't have a home." the boy painfully admitted making the three adults around him sigh in deep sadness as a response. However within those few seconds Kate had already come up with a possible solution. One that would certainly make this boy think otherwise.

"That's never gonna happen Aaron and you know why?" Kate replied while offering him a friendly smile, slowly breaking down the barrier of weariness the boy had previously shared with her.

"Why?" the boy simply asked in all innocence while the other two people looked upon her with curious eyes as well.

"Cause you and your Mommy can come stay with me." the brunette offered and within that moment so many things happened. Claire covered her mouth and gasped in shock, Aaron let out a squeal and hugged her like a kid on Christmas morning, and Jack just looked upon the scene with a bursting heart. The fact that this woman was offering her home to his family meant the world to him. It made him love her even more, but sadly he could knew that he could never act on requiting that love because he no longer had the right to because of Sawyer, Oh god Sawyer, he thought. What would he think of this, and with that he made the move to object against Kate's offer.

"Kate what about Sawyer?" Jack asked, plain and simple, making the brunette pull away from the boy's hug to look at him while saying...

"He's gone Jack." was all she said in a strikingly emotionless voice, and with that she stood up with the boys in her arms while gesturing for Claire to follow her. However the blonde seemed to also sense the uneasiness between them at the moment, so she made the move to object as well, but before she could respond, they were all interrupted by a loud shriek coming from within the woods, and without a another word Jack was the first one to sprint off to help.

"Help! Please Help me!!" the voice screeched out and then slowly faded out as the source of the voice drifted into a light sleep, making it all the more harder now for Jack to help in any kind of way, the density of the forest not making matters any easier as well.

Ten minutes later and he was still running blind through the forest, but with each quick step he took, he could also see a small white figure pointing towards something, but what that something was at the moment, he couldn't exactly decipher because he was too captivated by the striking familiarity of this figure.

"Kevin?" Jack managed to get out, a little shocked and a little out of breath as well as he now stood right in front of the figure.

All the figure did in response to this referral was point again in the same direction while saying something that Jack couldn't seem to hear.

"Kevin where do you want me to go?" he asked while trying his hardest to lip read the little boy's mumbling mouth.

"S-H-E...KNOWS, H-E-L-P ...H.-E-R!!" the boy spoke out this time in a strangled like voice before he slowly dissipated in front of the man, leaving Jack saddened but hopeful that he knew now where he had to help. So without another thought he ran off in that very direction, not even noticing the dark figure now standing behind him, smiling wickedly. A smile which could almost be interpreted as a victorious one.

A few minutes later and he busted into a clearing and now spotted a slender figure now lying huddled up into a ball on the floor. Of what he could decipher from the cuts which covered her arms and back, it looked like she might have been attacked by something human.

"Are you okay?" Jack asked as he crouched down to the figure's level so that he could get a better look at it's identity.

In response all the figure did was mumble a few random words and then drift off again, simply allowing the man in return to take matters into his hands and act upon his instincts.

(Meanwhile)

The two women were running frantically through the forest, trying to retrace Jack's steps and thanks to Kate they were now on the right path. However mid-way through their journey, they were interrupted by Jack blocking their path while carrying a figure in his arms.

"What happened?" Claire inquired while Kate looked over the state of the figure, but also the features of the figure as well. She couldn't seem to shake off the feeling of familiarity with this person. Like she almost knew her from somewhere.

"Kate you okay?" Jack inquired while noticing the brunette's bothered expression. In response she just smiled at him while nodding in a reassuring manner, and for a minute there Jack found himself lost in her again. Almost like a teenager in love again. However the slight strain he now felt on his arms, suddenly snapped him out of it and brought him back to the reality of the situation they were in at the moment.

"Is she alive?" Aaron inquired while leaning away from Claire's grip on him to get a peek at the dormant face of the figure lying in Jack's arms.

"Yeah honey, she'll be fine." Kate assured him while taking another look at the figure, trying her best to recollect where she had seen her or known her for that matter.

"I think we should move but I..." Jack started off while looking around the area they were currently in. Almost as if sensing his feeling of being completely lost, she took it upon herself to make use of her tracking skills again. Thank God for her Dad, she briefly thought to herself.

"Follow me." she instructed and without any sense of hesitation, the others followed her willingly, knowing without a doubt that they could trust this woman, even Claire.

(Meanwhile)

"Well it's great to meet you Mr. Linus" Marc offered while reluctantly offering his hand out to shake, still not being able to shake the feeling of weariness as he stood in front of this man.

"Likewise Mr. Silverman, likewise." Ben replied while offering the man in front of him a "warming" smile, but of course that wasn't the first word to spring up into Marc's mind as he saw it grace the man's features.

"Marc!" a female voice called out, which in turn broke his gaze away from the man who had quickly moved away unseen.

"Kate what are y..." Marc started off, but then stopped to allow a sigh of relief to escape his lips at the sight of his friend once again, but the relief turned into worry again at the sight of the unconscious figure being carried in his arms.

"What the hell happened man, and who is..." Marc continued and then stopped again as he also spotted a blonde woman walking up behind Jack, holding a small child in her arms.

"I'll tell you later Marc, but we have to get out of here now. Can you cover for me?" Jack asked in a pleading voice which managed to guilt his friend into a reluctant agreement, and with that the four of them sneaked off into Kate's car and drove off, leaving Marc to look back at the scene and think of a way to get out of this, while also realising that the man he was previously talking to had mysteriously disappeared, for some reason he couldn't seem to figure out just yet.

(Back at Kate's apartment)

The car pulled into the driveway of the vast and blackened apartment and once the door was opened, Aaron literally sprinted out to go stand at the doorway to his new home, making both adults smile in response.

"Here, why don't you go in and pick a room you'd like?" Kate offered while giving him the house key to use, which he excitedly took in return, offering her a quick thank you and a hug as well before he ran into the house to go and explore.

"Thank you so much for this and I'll promise that I'll pay you back whe..." the blonde started off but was stopped by Kate who just gave her a warm and friendly smile while saying...

"Don't worry about it Claire. Any family member of Jack's is family to me as well. Plus Aaron is a great kid." she confessed, receiving a tearful smile and a grateful hug from the smaller woman as a response and along with another thank you as well.

"Speaking of Jack, I think I might call him to find out if he's okay." the brunette spoke as she and the blonde walked in through the front door of her apartment.

(Back at Jack's office)

After Kate had dropped him off, much to her reluctance to do so, he had offered her, Claire and Aaron a quick goodbye and then rushed through the front doors of his office to try and save the woman in his arms, who much to his bad luck had not made a single sound yet, let alone any movement whatsoever and that worried him even more. He knew that he shouldn't have in the first place, being that she was nothing but a stranger and all, but he couldn't change the way he was.

So with that he rushed her up to his bedroom and tried his best efforts to clean her cuts up while hoping that she would finally wake up as a result, and thankfully a few minutes later when he was done, he could now hear a moaning coming from her closed lips.

"Hey, hey c'mon it's alright." Jack coaxed while slightly adding pressure to the sides of her face with his hands.

"Is...is it gone?" she spoke out more clearly now, enough for the person inches from her to understand and then respond by saying...

"Yeah it's gone. It's not gonna hurt you anymore, I promise." Jack assured the person in front of him with nothing but assurance in his tone, and with that the figure slowly opened her crystal blue eyes, to meet a pair of breathtakingly brown ones, which she could also see showed concern, concern for her, and for the moment she was truly touched by it, right before she was reminded of why she was originally here in the first place.

"I'm Jack." he offered while smiling at the woman in front of him, and once again all she could do was smile while offering him the same friendly gesture while saying...

"I'm Juliet." the blonde replied while taking the chance to gaze into his eyes once again.

**Dun Dun Dun, hehe. Sorry that I had to do that guys, but I assure you that I have a plan for all of this. My jater mind is working and this fic will definitely be heading towards that direction, I promise. Anyway so what do you think guys??Would you like to see more??**

**P.S. Also I would advise you to think of Ben as the cigarette smoking man from the X files. Like him, he will be making a lot of disappearing acts within this fic hehe.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

**Hey guys it's me again and I come bringing yet another mystery and slightly angst filled installment. One that might unravel itself pretty soon, hopefully, hehe. Once again thanks so much for the reviews guys and I hope that you'll like this one as well ;)**

Enjoy

"So what do you do?" was the first question he had asked her, not even showing any humbleness or hesitation in his voice, and for some reason she felt slightly attracted and intimidated by it. Never the less she managed to pull herself out of it in the end, and with that she resumed with drinking from the glass of water he had given her earlier on.

"So?" Jack asked her again as he still got no verbal response from her, instead he got more of a longing glance. A glance that managed to make him shiver, and not in the good sense. He couldn't seem to explain it though cause the more he looked into her crystal blue eyes, the more he felt like he was looking at a mask, a false representation of what this person wanted him to see, for specific reasons they didn't want him to obviously know about. However he didn't want to come off as rude in any way because for all he knew she could in fact be an innocent as he would so call his clients these days, much to his sudden amusement of putting it that way. _Maybe I should get a cape, _he briefly said to himself while allowing his features to wear a slight smile.

"What are you smiling about?" the blonde woman teased from across the room, snapping the man out of his reverie.

"Nothing important. So you really haven't answered my question yet you know." Jack inquired for he felt was like the thousandth time, and this time he made sure to stay focused on her while he waited for an answer.

"Well you didn't answer mine." she shot back, eliciting a warm and friendly smile from him.

"Oh, but I asked first." he replied smiling, but it slowly faded once the blonde hung her head briefly to not only think over her story for the time being, but to also put some kind of tragic emotion behind it. So once she managed to summon a few stray tears to her eyes, she looked up at the slightly concerned man, and much to her good luck his expression of concern progressed even further. To the extent where he wordlessly walked forward and then took her into his arms, lulling her into a light and peaceful slumber, and once he was sure that she was resting, he briefly gazed at her peaceful expression once again, and then quietly left, jarring the door behind him.

However once he was out the door and completely out of her view, she instantly shot up out of the bed and went through her bag on the chair, looking for the phone she had left in there. Once she got hold of it, she flipped it open and typed in the number she had memorized by heart.

"Hello?" the voice on the other end spoke out in a soft but cautious tone. A tone the blonde knew all too well about the kind of person he was.

"No I don't want you to do it now. Get to know him first and then move to stage 2." the same voice instructed to the woman, and all she could do was nod in agreement to his instructions because she knew just like him that they had worked too hard to mess all of this up with so much as a slight glitch. So with that she went forward with explaining ever intricate detail to her plan and once she was done she anxiously waited for a complementing agreement of some kind.

"Good, Good and Juliet…." the voice asked, changing it's tone to a slightly louder volume at the last bit.

"Yes Ben." the woman asked of the man she had to always answer to no matter what she did.

"Good work." was all he said before he hung up on her. Not even taking the time to offer her the hint of a friendly sentiment, and at first she seemed quite offended by it, but the more she worked with him, the more she too developed that thick icy exterior, a thing Ben had insisted was a necessity in this line of work.

(Meanwhile back in Jack's office)

He just sat around waiting for the next case of his to maybe walk through the door, but instead all he got was the weird buzzing silence ringing in his ears, and as much as he would have graciously accepted it sometimes, now he felt like doing something, starting with finding out if the blonde in his bedroom was okay enough to eat something because she couldn't just go to bed hungry. Even he knew something like that would be wrong. So with that he proceeded to physically act on his verbal thoughts, starting with gently knocking on the door he knew she was residing behind.

Three knocks later and he still got nothing in response, and with that he not only continued to knock, but he also started to prepare himself for kicking the door down.

"Juliet are you o…." he started out, but as his foot made the move to kick the door down, he was suddenly met with the sight of a very visible Juliet now standing in front of him in nothing but a towel.

"I'm sorry Jack, but do you have a bathroom cause I would really feel a whole lot better once I wash this dirt and grime of me." she confessed while trying to hang the towel around her as loosely as possible, an attempt to try and break through the first stage of his exterior.

"Uh well it's……..it's um that way." Jack instructed while try his best to avert his gaze from the surprisingly nonchalant blonde standing in front of him, waiting for the instructions to further what she had asked of him.

Once her gaze followed to where his finger was pointing, she smiled slightly in wordless thanks, but she was still kind of disappointed at the fact that he was covering his face from her, so with spending a few more minutes in thought, she decided to step her plan up a notch a bit.

"I just wanna thank you so much for helping me Jack." the blonde tearfully uttered while slowly throwing her arms around him, not even taking the note to stop her towel from possibly falling, and much to Jack's uneasiness it did the very next minute, when she tightened her hold on him with her arms while her nude body pushed even more into the parts of him she hoped would react to her as an instinctual response.

"Uh…….it's okay" Jack stuttered to now get out not only because of her form forcefully pressing in to his, but also because he could now catch sight of a confused and slightly hurt Kate standing just outside the door to his office.

"Jack what is it?" Juliet inquired pulling away as she felt him tense in her embrace. However words weren't needed for her as she caught hold of his gaze now focusing on something at the doorway, and judging by the terror and worry she could see circling within his brown orbs, she knew that it probably involved the one woman she was assigned to make him forget.

"Excuse me!" he simply uttered not even bothering to look at her, except he chose to gaze nervously at the brunette he was now walking towards, and all the blonde woman behind him could do was shamefully pick up her towel and then continue on towards the bathroom.

"Hey." he nervously spoke out while tucking his hands into his pockets to clearly display the way she always made him feel, and as much as she wanted to just coo in cuteness and kiss him till the end of time, she knew that it was never that easy, especially when it came to them, and also cause of the fact of what she had just so painfully seen. However she didn't want to come off as some sort of whining teen, so she just composed her rising anger for the time being, and chose to just return his casual and friendly sentiment with nothing but a simple "hey" as well.

"So what's up?" Jack immediately inquired while attempting to inch himself closer to her, but as he dreadfully expected she backed away even further, an obvious sign to him that she was in fact bothered by what she had walked in on, but another part of him wondered as to why she would behave in this way. _I mean it's not like they were together anymore_, and the fact that she was with Sawyer was also a clear enough sign that she didn't even feel for him in the way he still felt so strongly for her, no matter how much he tried to move past it.

"Uh……. nothing, don't worry about it." she replied, making the quick decision to leave before things got nasty, and not just between him and her. However much to her bad luck he made the daring move to then grasp hold of her arm in a rough, but demanding fashion, and with that her anger started to surface from within once again, although this time she failed to try and control it in any way.

"Let go of me." she hissed at him while physically struggling to break free from his strengthening grasp and the more she tried to break free, the more he tried to pull her into him.

"No I won't, not until you tell me.." he lingeringly uttered while trying to still her form so that he could talk to her properly, but unfortunately his words seemed to make her movements more erratic, and when her ministrations seemed to be effortless against him, she then resorted to hitting him across the expanse of his chest, not with full force, but with a relatively immense amount of impact.

"Kate, Kate come on don't do this, please." Jack kept on silently pleading with her, but she was too consumed by her anger to even take note of the words he was trying to sooth her with.

"Stop, please, I…….I can't." she screamed out in a higher pitched tone one last time before her tears got the better of her once again, and they had progressed to a virtually uncontrollable state when she saw the same hint of tears starting to gather within his gaze as well, and before she knew it all she saw next was her face forcefully colliding with his chest, and once that was done his arms automatically wrapped themselves around her in what she could decipher as a loving death grip. One she really had no problem taking comfort in for the time being.

"It's okay Kate. You don't have to put a brave face on baby. I know how much it hurts. I can feel it too." Jack painfully confessed while pulling the brunette even closer as she continued to cry for the many reasons her still breaking heart felt the need for her to do so.

"I can't do this anymore Jack. I just………I can't. I'm going crazy." she replied into his chest, her voice now sounding so defeated and broken that it almost made Jack's heart break even more, but as much as he felt this, another part of him wanted to make her see and feel that she wasn't in this alone. So with that he pulled her face away from his chest so that he could look her in the eye while saying what he had to say. However as he made the move to open his lips and speak, he was suddenly silenced by a smaller finger briefly placing itself against the area, right before it was undoubtedly replaced by a pair of soft lips, now caressing his with nothing but comfort and could it be………. love? He wondered to himself as he continued to just stand there and play a more than willing victim to her mind numbing ministrations.

"Kate" he sensually moaned out into her mouth, and in return Kate just deepened the kiss even further, her right hand now grasping the back of his head, while her left wrapped itself around his neck, bringing him even closer into her.

"Kate you have to stop please, I can't cont…." he strained to utter while shutting his eyes to mainly control the pleasure which was not only rising from within him, but it was also spreading to the other place he was trying so desperately trying to hide from her now wandering hands, and much to his disappointment she stopped almost immediately as the words came out of his mouth, and judging by the look of confusion and hurt now masking itself over her freckled features, he knew that she had taken it the wrong way, and before he could grasp onto her again, she was already walking backwards away from him, and with one more look of guilt shared with him, she then sprinted off without looking back. Not even taking the note of the numerous calls of desperation.

_What would I do? What could I do?_ He now wondered to himself as he sunk down into a seated position on the floor, feeling broken and defeated for yet another reason.

**There it is guys. So what do you think?? and to angst things up a bit, come next chap Kate's gonna try and seek comfort from a certain someone. So if you guys wanna know what else happens then you know what review button to press, hehe. Thanks :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

**Hey guys moi is back again and first off I wanted to apologise for not updating sooner. It's just that I admittedly lost my way a bit with the direction I wanted to take this fic in, but now my head is all clear with how I want to take this. So without further interruption here it is guys and once again thanks so much for the reviews and I hope to see more (The jate moment is almost upon us in this fic guys, maybe even sooner than you expected)**

Enjoy

_Why do I always do this to myself, _she told herself in a scolding fashion as she came through the door of her apartment, only to be greeted with the pin drop silence of the night, and at that moment she was hit with another sense of worry. One which involved her distinct recollection of a certain blonde woman and boy now living here as well, and when she continued to get no response in return, she then opted to call out to them regardless of the fact that they could have been sleeping soundly at this very minute, but much to her good luck her cries for their attention were seized upon hearing something in the living room, and once her curiosity did the physical job of making her follow it, she immediately came to a stand still at what she was hearing and seeing at this very minute.

_**Hush now baby don't say a word, **_

_**Mommy's gonna buy you a mocking bird**_

_**And if that mocking bird don' t sing**_

_(Flashback - 5 years earlier)_

_And if that mocking bird don't song _

_Daddy's gonna buy you a diam……._

"_Hey" a voice softly uttered at the doorway to the currently dimmed room, momentarily stopping the person across from her from continuing on with the lullaby that worked wonders with the little form they were currently singing it to. _

"_Hey, what are you doing up so late?" the voice currently sat at the crib inquired of the person, and all she did was smile while saying………_

"_I could ask you the same thing" _

"_Yeah I just…………" _

"_Couldn't sleep" the feminine voice filled in as she too joined him to witness the perfect sight currently lying peacefully within the confines of the crib they had finally bought after dismissing literally a thousand other ones. Them firmly believing that the baby wouldn't like it, but in the end they came to a mutual decision on one, and so far it seemed to be perfectly okay with their pride and joy._

"_So what do you think he's gonna be when he grows up?" the female voice inquired of the man she currently had wrapped safely within the recess of her small arms. _

"_Maybe a police officer like his Daddy or a Lawyer like his Mommy or……_

"_Or how about both!" she filled in almost immediately, and with that the couple soon followed into a moment of complete light hearted laughter ,but as they sensed a slight whimpering coming from the direction of the crib, they soon hushed themselves and then each said their goodnight's to their 11 month old son who just silently cooed in response to their loving and parental ministrations, and with that both parents just looked at each other once again, seeing the never ending love and devotion they clearly felt and shared for each other, and once each was reaffirmed of that, they then looked toward the culmination of that very love, lying in the blue crib, with the name "Kevin" engraved over the front of it's frame._

_(End of flashback)_

She could still remember that moment till this day, and as she now gazed on at the scene in front of her, she couldn't help but wonder if she would ever get that again, the happiness, the love, and would it ever amount to the way Jack expressed it to her. _No, _she said to herself, how could she find it again when she had already found it within the brown eyes of a certain man she knew she was still madly in love with, and judging by the feeling of his taste still on her lips, she knew that he probably felt the same way for her too, or at least she hoped he still did.

"Kate?" a voice suddenly inquired of her, and in turn it completely snapped her out of her reverie.

"Hey Claire." the brunette responded while briefly hiding her face to wipe the tears she had no idea she'd been shedding all this time.

"Um…..is everything okay." the small blonde woman asked right away as she sensed and somehow knew that something was wrong, and the very next minute she was confirmed of her assumptions when she mentioned that name. The name she still couldn't get use to referring as her brother.

"Is it Jack?"

And with that the brunette simply broke down, emotionally and physically, and within seconds of that happening the blonde woman previously sitting across from her had managed to quickly manoeuvre a sleeping Aaron onto the couch so that she could get to the brunette now sitting in a defeated position on the floor.

"I feel like….." the brunette tried getting out as she succumbed to her heart wrenching emotions once again.

"Sshhh sweetie, it's alright." Claire tried in a motherly and soothing tone, while she rocked them slightly from side to side.

"I feel like my heart is breaking Claire and now I just…….I.." she tried explaining as she pulled away from the friendly embrace of the woman across from her.

"What happened Kate?" the blonde slowly and carefully asked the brunette, knowing that this was obviously a tough subject to explore further, but she also thought that exploring it might be the only way to solve and fix it once and for all.

"We kissed." was all she said as her face crumbled into a pain filled expression once again. A sight that managed to also bring up a more than unexpected swell of emotion from the blonde woman who was looking and listening in to what the brunette was painfully confessing. However a part of her was a tad puzzled as to why she would be crying over a kiss, and with Jack above all people. A person she knew the brunette cared for greatly, judging by what she had seen that day back in the woods.

"Well that's great honey so why are you….."the blonde tried starting out in a cheerful manner but she was cut off by the brunette in a more than unexpected and slightly violent manner.

"There's someone else Claire!! there's someone else and that's why he……he…" she started out, but soon enough she gave way to her emotions once again leaving the blonde to take on the job of comforting her, while trying to figure out what the hell was going on now.

(Meanwhile)

He was on his third or fourth can of beer now; he really couldn't tell or care at this point. All he did care about was seeing how much he could consume to hopefully wash the pain away as a result.

"Jack?" a voice cautiously asked from the doorway to a darkened room which was temporarily hers in effect, but the blonde planned on making her stay here as long as possible. That was until she had fulfilled her mission. So with that she called out to him again, waiting for some kind of response in return but all she continued to get were incoherent moans, faintly conveying what was wrong with him at the moment, well more so physically because as of now he felt that he was emotionally dead.

"Jack…..are you okay?" the woman now asked as she walked forward, maintaining an expression of concern that grew considerably when she suddenly caught sight of the mass of empty beer cans thrown to one side on his office table.

"What happened?" she chose to ask as she physically tried to gain his attention when he failed to answer her at first.

"Jack, Jack look at me……tell me what happened." the voice asked of him with a good amount of determination in it's tone which was not only surprising for him, but for her as well_. I'm not supposed to care about him, _she briefly reminded herself as she gazed at the half awake man in front of her.

Jack on the other hand couldn't make head no tails of what he was seeing at this current minute, but what he could see now was the rough silhouette of a form that weirdly resembled the reason he was in this situation to begin with, _but here she was now, in front of him, but how could that be?, _he truly wondered to himself, as he continued to gaze at the sight in front of him, and all of a sudden he heard his name being called out in a tone he knew all to well, or more so what his mind hoped for at this very minute, and with that he wordlessly leaned forward to passionately engage with the form in front of him. Now surely believing that it was her in his mind, but in the real world he now had a terrified but complying blonde in his arms, slowly giving into what he was currently offering her through his physical ministrations.

"Jack" she moaned out against his mouth, the vibrations forcing him to deepen the kiss further while responding in the only way his heart felt and knew now.

"I love you, I've never stopped loving you Ka…."

"EXCUSE - ME!!" a voice more so demanded rather than asked as they stood at the doorway, their eyes absorbing a more than unexpected and quite unfortunate scene.

"I'm sorry can I help you…." the blonde in Jack's arms started out, but soon she was interrupted and unexpectedly thrown out of the position she was previously in by the figure beneath her.

"Claire, what are you doing he….." Jack asked in genuine shock, and it was that experience of shock that snapped him out of the dizzying influence he had been in earlier on.

"Can I talk to you Jack…..ALONE?" the small blonde woman asked of him while making sure the woman now standing to the side of the room heard the last part, loud and clear, and much to her good luck the woman just wordlessly nodded her head in agreement and then walked back into the seclusion of her own bedroom, leaving Jack to hang his head in shame and sadness of realising what he had just done, and what he was dangerously close to furthering if Claire hadn't walked in when she did.

"So if I had to ask you how you've been doing, what would you say Jack?" Claire shot at him, her anger growing considerably with each word mentioned. She knew that she was a bit out of line in saying what she just said, but she just couldn't get over the fact that he was doing this while a certain brunette back home was crying her eyes out, to the point where she expected blood to replace it.

"Claire it's not what it looked like I jus…."

"Then tell me what it looked like Jack because it sure seemed like you were having fun!" the blonde spat at him in the hatred she never even knew she possessed. Her power being fuelled by what the brunette kept on saying, _"there's someone else"._

"What are you my Mother?" Jack shot back while snorting in a sarcastic manner, and it was at that point that the blonde flew into a wild rage.

"NO JACK, I'M YOUR SISTER, AND MY JOB IS TO LOOK OUT FOR YOU IN SITUATIONS LIKE THIS YOU IDIOT!! SO DON'T BLOODY START YOUR NONSENSE WITH ME!!" the blonde screamed out in one go, and as soon as it came out, she felt bad for having gone off at him in such a way, judging by the way he now sat so defeatedly in his office chair, his hands burying his shaking face. His mind suddenly remembering everything, and with that the pain resurfaced in full swing.

"Jack I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that." Claire tried while lowering herself to his level so that she could offer the comfort she felt was a necessity for him, especially now.

"Everything is so screwed up Claire. It's all so screwed up." he tried explaining while still keeping his face buried within the expanse of his hands. An attempt to mainly hide the emotions he rarely showed to anyone other than himself of course, and even then he hesitated in truly letting it all out, the tension, the stress, the heartache he was still experiencing within his already broken heart.

"Jack……Jack look at me." Claire tried verbally asking of him while her smaller hands made the physical decision to help achieve what she had just expressed, and a whole two minutes later she finally managed to see what he had been hiding all this time, the tears. Tears that rooted from the immense pain he had been trying so hard to suppress all this time, and with that the woman in front of him simply leaned forward to hug him closely while whispering words of encouragement to him, in an attempt to help ease some of his suffering.

Once they finally pulled away from each other, the blonde simply focused her eyes on his while saying…….

"What do you want Jack?" she simply asked of him, and her smile immediately surfaced as she saw exactly what she seen earlier in the brunette's eyes when she asked her the very same question.

"She loves you Jack, even though you might not see it or feel that she does. She loves you!" Claire tearfully admitted while confessing what she knew was for sure, judging by what she had heard and seen of what both parties had expressed.

"But how can I….." he weakly tried reasoning out with her, but it seemed that her sureness of the subject at matter, seemed to make her powerless to anything or anyone who saw it as otherwise.

"No, Jack it's not that complicated, especially since I can already see it in your eyes, the same way I've seen it in hers. It's time to put an end to this Jack. To put an end to this charade of fear and heartache." she said to him while trying her very hardest to gain his focus and understanding on what she was trying to get at here.

"Where is she now?" Jack dumbly inquired of the blonde, a part of him having a slight inclination as to where she might be now, but another part of him wanted to be sure anyway, in an effort to mainly gain some sort of balance within himself, because he really had to think with a clear mind here, especially when it came to the brunette.

"Well she should be at home with Aaron……" she started out in a hurried fashion as he walked around his office at a similar pace, retrieving his coat from the pile of papers that had already gathered over it, but what more was expected from him at this point, he was an emotional wreck and he needed to be fixed by the one person he knew would and could mend it completely.

"And Jack?" Claire managed to utter quick enough to gain his attention.

"Yeah?"

"You're a good man Jack……now go get her!" the blonde spoke with a smile while trying to wipe away the tears that so desperately wanted to fall along with it.

(Meanwhile on the other side of Juliet's bedroom door)

From the moment she was almost made to walk into her room, she felt like a complete failure for not having succeeded in the very first stage of her plan which was to gain his trust. A point Ben kept on making clear to her if she was ever to be successful in making any of the other stages that followed after that. _No, I had to put my damn selfish needs first, _she hatefully spat at herself, not even believing how wrong and absurd she had been in having engaged with him in this way. Although another part of her felt something she had never felt before. It was unclear to her at this point, but of what she could initially decipher of it was that it warmed her in some comforting way, that was before that _snivelling blonde_, she thought to herself, broke it up.

_Maybe I can use her as a way to get to him, _she suddenly wondered while a creepy smile now worked it's way up onto her thinking features.

"_NO JACK, I'M YOUR SISTER, AND MY JOB IS TO LOOK OUT FOR YOU IN SITUATIONS LIKE THIS YOU IDIOT!! SO DON'T BLOODY START YOUR NONSENSE WITH ME!!", a sister, she's his sister, _the blonde now wondered to herself in astonishment as her mind started to work even further, along with her fingers that were already punching in a phone number to a destination she knew would answer, no matter what.

"Hello" the voice spoke out in it's usual and expected monotonous manner.

"Hello Ben, I think we might have a better way to get to him."

**Dun Dun Dun. So what will happen next? If you guys wanna find out, you know what Purple button to press to make my day, and yes come next chapter we might just see some current jate interaction going on, but that all depends on your feedback guys ;)**

**P.S. Sassy don't worry cause Sawyer will return and when you least expect it.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

**Hey guys moi is back again and with jate as promised, and with a little surprise re-appearance as well, from maybe more than one character. So without further adieu here it is guys and thanks for the reviews, and please do keep them comin ;)**

Enjoy

She had been sitting in the same position, gazing outside the window to take note of the rather gloomy scenery that was occurring behind it's confines.

"Auntie Kwate, Auntie Kwate." was what snapped her out of her reverie the very next moment, and with hearing that she was suddenly met of a reminder. A reminder of what she once had.

"What is it sweetie? I thought you were in bed." the brunette enquired in the utmost kindness.

"Where is Mommy?" he simply replied and asked getting straight to the point once and for all, and for the first few minutes the brunette smiled at him while thinking of a possible excuse that would help ease his mind for the time being. At least until Claire got back, which she honestly thought would have been anytime now, and just as the thought passed through her mind, she was alerted by a distinct knocking sound coming from the direction of her front door, and with another smile of reassurance shared with the little boy next to her, she was slowly making her way to the door. However her smile soon ceased and turned into that of confusion when she came face to face with her visitor.

"What are you doing here?" was the first thing she asked as she took in the sight of a drenched but focused Jack standing patiently on her doorstep.

"Can I co……" the man in front of her started out, but they were momentarily interrupted by a sight that really caught them off guard. Jack more so than Kate.

"Uncle Jack Jack!!" Aaron literally squealed out as he ran past Kate and into Jack's arms.

"Hey there little man."

"Come in Uncle Jack Jack, come on" Aaron kept on almost chanting when he anxiously removed himself from the man's arms, only to then take hold of that very man's hand so that he could physically act on what he had just requested. At first Jack was a tad hesitant about following with the boy's request, seeing that the brunette across from him was wrapping her arms around herself in a clear enough gesture of insecurity, but the moment the fear surfaced within him as a result, one thing rang true in his mind. The one thing Claire had assured him off.

"_She loves you Jack, even though you might not see it or feel that she does. She loves you!"_

It is the reason you came here in the first place isn't it, he told himself as his eyes continued to drink in every inch of her. So with that sense of new found assurance coursing through him, he followed the two people in, while taking the chance to offer the brunette a little smile as he did so.

The night from that point onwards had taken on more of an unexpected and cheerful tone. Both adults interacting naturalistically with the little boy who reminded them so much of their own son. Whom they knew would have given Aaron a right run around if he was still alive.

"Okay I'm counting to 10.…..1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, 3 Mississippi …"

"You think he'll find us?" Jack softly inquired of the person next to him while chuckling at what they were doing at the moment. This was not what he had planned out initially, but as long as the brunette was involved then what was the big problem in it.

However the brunette beside him took this short amount of given time to ask the more serious question. The very one she had asked him when he had showed up at her doorstep.

"Why did you really come here Jack?" she asked him while taking the opportunity to emphasise every word.

"Kate I lo…."

"BOO!!" they firstly heard and then saw the source of that voice uncovering itself behind the previously shut closet door.

An entire half an hour later and Aaron was finally dozing off, leaving Kate to wordlessly volunteer herself to tuck the little tiger into bed, while Jack just sat on the couch in the living room. Thinking of ways to come at what he had nearly confessed not so long ago. Along with that other questions started to surface. _Would she believe me? Will she feel the same way despite what Claire said? _Every single one of them raised their own amount of importance, but he knew that the most important one of all was the solitary question. _Did she still love him?_

"Hey" the brunette offered in a casual manner while the man in front of her briefly froze before responding with the same sentiment.

"So…."

"So….." Jack repeated in a long and dragged out manner, making the brunette grunt in pretend frustration before her radiant smile got the better of her. However it soon changed when she felt a powerful amount of focus on her. A sense of focus that caused her skin to hum and heat up to a dangerously rising level, and as a result of this she felt like acting upon venting it in some way. The best solution to her mind now being the person in front of her, whom she knew felt the same way, judging by the way he looked at her slightly open lips and the almost tantalising way her breath blew against it's soft and rosy texture, and all of a sudden it was met by another addition of breathing. One that moved at a more frantic and laboured pace, and as he got closer to the destination, he finally took the leap and planted his lips over hers. His mouth naturally opening up to cover over hers so that he could proclaim something much more than a mere peck on the lips. He wanted to show her that she was still that something more to him.

From there things had taken more of a heightened tone, more so physically rather than emotionally as the only thing that could now be seen were the articles of clothing being ripped off and thrown into the air, abandoned from the frantic activity beneath it.

However as the experience progressed even further in it's physical aspect, so did their heightening emotions, more so for the brunette who couldn't seem to get past the fact of how good and right this felt, just like it use to when they were together. _Together? _She suddenly took the time to think to herself as the man above her continued on with his ministrations of physically proclaiming his love for her.

"Jack" she was almost forced to moan out as he hit the all knowing sensitive part of her he had mentally kept with him till this day.

"Jack" she spoke out again, although this time she grasped hold of the back of his head with both of her smaller hands. Her action stilling him with a groan…..

"Please don't ask me to stop now." was what she heard next coming from his mouth, the vibrations of his voice sending those all familiar chills through her.

"What are we doing Jack?" she asked in all honesty when he finally raised his gaze to meet hers. His eyes looking at her with something he was trying to convey, but in the end he just decided to say it out loud, while bracing a part of his hopeful heart for the worst.

"I love you Kate, and I don't think there's even been a day gone by when I've stopped." he emotionally confessed while trying his best to suppress his own tears at the sight of hers falling from her emerald green eyes and streaking her flushed features.

"Jack I ca……"

"Please Kate. Just give me another chance, give us another chance." he pleaded off her while dragging his voice out to play out that very sense of longing he wanted her and her only to satisfy.

"I don't want to end up hurting you again Jack" she replied in a shaky voice while she closed her eyes to seize her tears from falling anymore, but the very next minute she was forced to open them again and listen to the man above her.

"Baby, the only way you could hurt me is if you shut me out completely. I need you back in my life Kate cause I think I might go crazy if I don't." he expressed with a strong sense of determination being fuelled from what he was feeling within his heart at the moment.

In response to that she just took the time to gaze at him intently for a few more minutes before she slowly placed her hands on either side of his face, and then lifted her lips up to meet his again. Her taking control of the moment this time. However it wasn't long until she willingly relinquished it to his sultry ministrations.

(Later)

After experiencing what both parties believed to be the most exhausting but wonderful moment of their entire lives, they both slumped in each other's arms on the couch, her hand reaching out for the blanket that laid on the side of the sofa they were currently lying on, but she then let out a smile at the fact that the man above her had already beaten her to it, and within seconds she found herself being embraced with a combined warmth of not only the covering, but the feeling of two well structured arms also wrapping themselves around her slender form.

"So how does it feel?" she heard him ask her, the vibration in his voice making her hum contently.

"Mmmm which time." the brunette shot back while adorning a wicked smile and she was soon silenced by a light tap initiated on a more private part of her, and in response she couldn't help but succumb further into the person who did it in the first place.

"Seriously though" Jack then uttered after the couple managed to silence their giggles so that they wouldn't wake up Aaron.

"I want to believe that we have another chance at this Jack, and as long as your around I……."

"I'm not going anywhere Kate, not anymore." he expressed with all the determination he could muster , emotionally and physically, and all the brunette could do in response to that was smile while leaning forward to show her mutual agreement of what he had just expressed. Not even realising that they were being watched carefully by an unknown form from outside the window. An undecipherable expression adorning their features, but the functions of their working mind was of the complete opposite.

(Meanwhile - an hour earlier)

After seeing him off she just took the time to smile and revel at how similar she used to be when she first met Charlie. How they would constantly skirt around each other's growing feelings as they would see more of each other. Until one night they both just gave up and gave in. The culmination of that night coming in the form of a beautiful little blue eyed boy, whom both parents cherished with all the love and devotion their hearts could give.

However as the time went on certain things came in the way, the most pressing one of all, the accident. The one thing that made the split between the line of what they had.

_Think of him now, _a voice suddenly spoke out to her, and for a minute she thought and could have sworn that it was Charlie, but as she took the time to gaze around her fairly desolate surroundings, she knew that it was just her mind and heart hoping for it, and with spending a few more minutes in her thoughts, she took it upon herself to come back into reality and the responsibilities that came along with it. One of them being the little boy and brunette who were probably worried sick about her right now. So with that she grabbed hold of her purse from the sofa and made the move to walk out through the front door of what she roughly assumed could be called her brother's office, but as her foot stepped over the entrance, she was stopped by a piece of cloth being placed over her mouth from behind.

At first she tried her best efforts to fight the dizzying wave she felt coming over her, but as the person behind her applied more pressure with the cloth, she was forced to succumb to the feeling the drug was initiating, and within a matter of seconds she was out cold on the floor. The person above her already moving to the next stage of their plan, while waiting for the much needed back up they needed to help carry out this plan.

A few minutes later and the back up had arrived in the form of the one person who had been playing a part in this all this time, but why, no one knew. Not even Ben.

"Good you're here. What took you so long?" the form standing above Claire asked the other person currently standing at the entrance, a big black bag in one hand and a bit of rope in the other.

"Well I woulda worked better with some better directions Darlin"

"Don't call me that James. Just do what you were assigned to do in the first place." Juliet warned him in a low and dangerous tone, and when she felt and saw that he took note of it, she softened a tad and then waited for him to act on his part of the job.

When they were finally done and in tow with the tied unconscious blonde, Juliet got out her phone again and affirmed herself of the next plan of action. Her sheer eagerness and obsession to do this job really annoying the man across from her, but he knew better than to question his Boss' judgement, especially when it came down to a man like Ben.

"Yes we know where it is, and we know what to do from there on." the blonde expressed in a professional manner while she was on the phone, and once she was done and affirmed of what she had to do, she then walked out with James and an unconscious Claire in tow.

However there was still someone left behind. A small but sturdy form looking on at the scene feeling nothing but hurt and frustration over not being able to interfere rightfully while the love of his life was harmed right in front of him.

To be continued…………

**Well there it is guys. A bit of everything to enjoy, hehe. So what do you think??**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

**Hey guys. After some thinking over the direction I wanna take this fic in, moi is back and ready to dole out the jateness. The current season 4 spoilers certainly fuelling some of that hope. Let's just keep our fingers crossed eh. As always thanks for the reviews guys and without further adieu here's the next instalment.**

Enjoy

"WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME!!" the blonde kept on shouting into the vacant and unclear space before her, and when she sensed her cries wouldn't achieve anything in return she seized them and did the next best thing which was pray. Pray that she would get out of this and see her family once again.

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(Meanwhile)

"Stop it." she half heartedly hissed as she found herself being grasped into a warmth she knew all too well and his embrace was making sure that she would feel all of it, but as much as she wanted to embrace it in return she knew that she would be hearing a pair of little feet urgently trudging their way down the stairs.

"Jack." she then whined while prolonging the sound of his voice to get her point across, especially when he furthered his ministrations over her, his mouth and hands both branching towards a place she much preferred explored at a later time but it seemed his growing insatiability for her dismissed every single one of those factors. However both parties were forced to come to a standstill when they were introduced to a voice calling out for none other than………………

"MOMMY!!WHERE'S MOMMY, GIVE HER BACK!!" they heard a voice from upstairs literally screaming out at the top of their lungs and within seconds both Jack and Kate quickly dressed themselves and then ran to tend to the source of this obvious distress.

"Aaron, honey it's okay. It's okay, it was just a bad dream." Kate tried coaxing as she tried to calm a frantic Aaron who seemed relentless in seizing with his pleas for his Mother to be returned and upon hearing that Jack suddenly realised something, Where was Claire?

She should have been back by now? He suddenly asked himself as he vaguely recollected what was said in their last conversation, her farewell to him at the time clearly including that she was heading straight home. Oh God I hope nothing happened to……………………

"I saw her Auntie Kwate. I saw her alone in this dark room and she kept on screaming out for help but I couldn't help her." the boy explained through the tears that had already started to gather along the expanse of his little cheeks.

All Kate did in response was turn around to stare at Jack for some sort of wordless explanation for Aaron's sheer sense of detail over his Mother's current whereabouts and the fact that she wasn't here, forced the brunette's assumptions to arise, her worry growing alongside it and Jack was right there with her in that department but in an attempt to not worry Aaron they both wordlessly decided to assure him that Claire would be back any minute, and thankfully their joint effort seemed to clam the boy down gradually. His eyes drooping into a sound sleep once again, leaving the two watchful people time to conquer the growing worry they shared for the blonde woman.

"Did she tell you anything?" Kate inquired as she came within viewing range of Jack's face. A face that was filled with worry and concern and as much as he wanted to hide it from the person in front of him, he knew only doing it would hurt him and it would also betray what he swore to her the previous night before.

"Jack?" he heard her ask again and this time he just sighed to himself and then went onto tell her all about their last meeting.

"You don't think she was……………." Kate spoke while bracing herself for the possible worst. One that could match perfectly to what Aaron had supposedly seen.

"I don't think so." he responded almost right away, his tone trying it's best to posses some sense of sureness within it, but his contradicting thoughts forced his confidence to fail miserably and Kate was more than observant to pick up on it.

"This is all my fault." she then started to say as the realisation came back to her.

Jack on the other hand was confused but never the less concerned for the way this beautiful woman was unnecessarily blaming herself for something that surely wasn't her fault in the first place.

"Kate look at me. This isn't anyone's fault………………" he convinced her while gazing intently into her clouded eyes. The fear so evident that it sent chills down his spine and in an attempt to help wash it away he pulled her into his arms and rocked her back and forth in a soothing motion and manner.

"She's fine Kate, I promise you that it will all be fine." he gently spoke into her ear as his arms pulled her even tighter against him when he sensed a slight shaking reverberating through her petite form, the source of it becoming clear to him when he felt a growing moisture forming over the top part f his shirt.

"What if it's not Jack. What if……………." she tried to argue with him but her growing emotions got the better of her once again and she was forced to do nothing but succumb to it.

"Everything is gonna be okay Kate, you have my word." he proclaimed more like an oath rather than a normal sense of assurance from one to another, but Jack had not other choice but to proclaim it in that way because he needed to truthfully convince himself as well that he would see Claire again.

From there on things had been fairly silent between the two. Each one of them too caught up within their thoughts to find a suitable way to explain it, but one they did know was that she needed to be okay, especially now that everything seemed to be coming together.

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(Meanwhile - a few miles away)

"Try and keep her quiet will you." James heard a more than annoyed Juliet announce from where she was seated at what resembled a work desk. Over his years of working with these people he grew extremely knowledgeable of their ways and methods of dealing with things and up until now he was okay with it. Truthfully his whole prospect on life changed dramatically when he was introduced to one of the subjects of his latest case, a beautiful green eyed brunette who always managed to brighten his day no matter what, and here he was betraying her. Betraying everything he led her to believe just because of what she had done to him, or was it to do with that in the first place, he wondered.

"James." he heard his name being called out once again, the aggravation within the tone snapping him into reality right away and with a sigh he reluctantly followed through with the blonde's instruction of silencing a still screaming Claire.

Once he stepped foot within the confined area her cries amazingly seized right away only to then turn into a bunch of questions being asked, the most important one of all being the reason for her capture.

"I'm sorry sweetheart but I only know as much as you at this point." he responded as he stood in front of her arms folded, his gaze watchful but curious of her expression. It was certainly one he had seen all to well before, and with that he walked a few steps forward and leaned himself against the opposite table to where she was sat and tied up.

"Look I know your worried about your kid, but I can assure ya that they don't want him, I at least know that much for now." he revealed and was somewhat relieved to see her relax a bit but her curiosity grew that much more when her mind circled around why she was being held here and before she could ask him again, they were both being interrupted by an extremely peeved Juliet who seemed more than displeased at the fact that he wasn't following simple instructions yet again but she amazingly remained quiet over the issue and ordered for his presence back in their working quarters. Although he seemed a little pre-occupied at the moment with the blonde, the sadness and longing so true and evident that it almost caused his heart to break.

What the hell are you thinking man, he mentally scolded himself for having allowed such a thing. The last thing he wanted to do was get involved with another woman, especially after experiencing the heart break from another. A woman he accidentally grew to love during the duration of his duties and if given the chance he knew he would have gone all the way with it.

"God, do I have to do everything myself around here." Juliet exclaimed much to her annoyance when the blonde man failed to budge from his spot for some reason. The outcome leaving her to grab the scotch tape herself so that she could use it achieve her goal of silencing the blonde in the chair.

Once he managed to find his way outside once again, Juliet literally wrenched him to the side and faced him with an angry expression.

"What the hell were you thinking James, I told you to keep her quiet not give her a chance to say even more." she hissed at him while pointing her finger at his form in an accusing manner, and all he could really do was scratch the front of his forehead and mutter a quick apology, his feet then sprinting towards the nearest source of fresh air but on the way he was stopped short by something he never thought he'd see in a million years, not since he was forced to end it due to what they assured him was a threat to their mission.

"Charlie?"

**There it is guys and yes I will be exploring the truth about what really happened to Charlie and what supposed threat he was harbouring. There were actual hints in this chap to suggest what it might be, but don't worry because all will be revealed as soon as you guys let me know what you thought. Please don't make me beg guys. Thanks ;)**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

**Okay so sorry I haven't updated this fic in like forever, especially since it's gotten relatively jatey in the last few chaps. Anyway here it is guys and thanks for the reviews :)**

Enjoy

It felt like he was reliving the past again. Only this time he had some reliable leads to use in an effort to find his sister, but funnily enough each one came out with same outcome, nothing.

Kate reluctantly stayed behind with Aaron though really wanting to join in on the search, but first of all doing so would put Aaron's life in sure danger, and second of all Jack strongly insisted that he cared too much about her to lose her again. So with that she agreed but made it a point of business to tell him to back away if it got too dangerous because she didn't want to lose him either.

* * *

He tried his level best to stay calm on the way back to his office but he couldn't seem to get the image of Claire being in danger out of his head.

Once he did arrive he was completely frozen in his footsteps by the sight of what was once his office. The entire place was in shambles, papers were scattered everywhere, and his table lamp now lay shattered amidst the chaos. Then almost as an after thought he called out the name of his house guest, growing worried when there was no answer in return. So with that he went about searching every room assuming the worst and as a last resort started scanning Juliet's room in an attempt to get something, and in the end all he came up with was a business card with the name "Linus Industries" on it.

He dismissed the card at first, feeling a tad uneasy at the fact that he was rifling through her personal belongings but his interest only seemed to grow when he furthered his search, accidentally stumbling into something that had him confused, intrigued and angry when he finally saw what elements were contained within this highly classified file, or that's what it said on the cover but when did that ever stop his curiosity and it was a good thing it didn't.

The file was filled with pictures of nothing but Kate and him. Each photo documented what time of day it was and also what they were doing at that precise moment. The more he went on, and the more he felt disgusted, especially when he came to a picture of him and Kate in a very intimate position. The evidence of such perversion annoying him to say the least and with that he felt that something needed to be done about this once and for all.

"That's it." He said to himself while closing the file and grabbing hold of his coat along with the business card he assumed was the key to finding Claire and hopefully the answers he had been looking for all this time.

* * *

All she could do now was parade along the length of her living room, phone in one hand and baby monitor in the other.

"Aunty Kwate?" she suddenly heard a little voice behind her utter and for a split minute she thought it was Kevin but of course it wasn't. Still a part of her hoped and prayed that Kevin would one day be in her arms again.

"Hey swee' pea" she cooed while picking the fairly saddened but mostly tired boy into her arms, knowing exactly what he wanted and feeling guilty at the fact that in a way she was responsible for taking Claire away from him in the first place. Never the less all she could do at the moment was focus on the positive and believe that Jack would fix this.

She knew he would until his last breath.

* * *

"What is this?" Claire asked the man she had known for a total of a day and still couldn't figure out which side he was truly playing for. Though she still strived to keep up that wall just in case this was all some sick game.

"Well it started out as dinner but I'm guessing it's still edible." James joked and as expected the blonde failed to show any physical sentiment in return. From the very moment he met or was more so ordered to tie her up and bring her here, he felt something. Something that made him feel that she didn't belong here and not just for the obvious reason of course.

_What am I doing here?_ He then took the time to ask himself clearly still caught within what he had unexpectedly felt for a woman he was meant to con rather than fall in love with.

_Was it love or was it simply a way to make amends with_ _ his shady past?_

There was no denying that he felt something for the brunette but he wasn't completely sure what it was about her that made him like this.

"I'm not hungry." Claire simply answered still maintaining the cold and soulless façade in an attempt to get something out of him. Perhaps a confession or something because she hoped that maybe just maybe her assumptions were right. Although she was surprised when he simply threw the tray onto the table before her and walked off, muttering a "whatever" before he slammed the door to her cell shut.

(Meanwhile)

He felt like he was going around in circles, quite literally actually but still he could have sworn that this was the right address. However there was little to suggest that it might be so he resorted to plan B, once he got round to figuring out what plan B was in the first place.

"Drive" a monotonous voice suddenly ordered from the now occupied passenger seat beside Jack.

"Whoa, what the…….Charlie?" Jack stuttered amidst his initial shock he felt of being graced with the presence of a man he was convinced was dead and had moved on.

_He did._

"What are you…."

"Straight ahead." The man spoke as his focus still remained on the seemingly endless road ahead of them and much to Jack's surprise the traffic seemed to have cleared up, almost paving the way for him and without a thought to consider he pressed on the accelerator and followed Charlie's brief but clear instructions.

An hour later and he was pulling up next to an abandoned warehouse adorning a worn out sign he could barely read, but never the less Charlie kept on pointing towards it.

"Is this it?" Jack decided to ask despite being offered a wordless answer from the man across from him. In response Charlie kept on pointing towards the place, but this time mouthed the one word that offered a good enough answer for Jack.

"Claire." He more or less breathed and Jack took that as a firm yes. So with that he vacated his car though not before acquiring the spare gun he kept in the glove compartment. Once he had that in tow he cautiously walked towards the jarred entrance of the factory knowing something wasn't quite right here, but his determination to see this through won out in the end.

So he took one last deep breath and entered the fairly dingy area, maintaining a cautious stride as he slowly surveyed every inch of this place and came out with the same disheartening outcome, nothing. However when all hope seemed lost, his eyes then fell upon what looked like a rusty old hatch door about 6 to 7 feet from where he stood at the moment and what peaked his interest even more was the stream of light bordering the entire frame of this door. Clearly suggesting that something or someone was being held within it's sturdy confines.

After mentally deliberating with himself for what seemed like forever, he finally came to a decision and moved toward the hatch, firmly pointing his gun towards the almost illuminated glass window he could now see along with the fairly bold "QUARATINE" warning beneath it.

"Quarantine? For what?" Jack barely achieved the time to question before he was knocked out cold by a solid wrench being held by a person who not only had plans for Jack but also planned to use his capture to their benefit and if he failed to comply in return then he would simply meet the same fate Kevin did.

One way or another they would finally acquire the one person they truly wanted and were doing this all for.

Aaron, or what they firmly believed was the reincarnated version of their valued and most trusted leader. A man who saw the ways of the world in a way no other person could.

_A brilliant man_ , as they so commonly referred to him as but to the select few who knew him, he was Jacob.

**So what will happen to Jack and Claire and more importantly what will become of Aaron? **

**Could the people who believe he is a reincarnated Jacob be right in their prediction** ** or are they just crazy?**

**Also what is Ghost Charlie up to and is it even him to begin with?**

**Come next chapter and Kate receives a visit from someone she knew not too long ago, and fairly strange happenings start to occur as well.**

**Plus one more surprise……**

**The one thing I can reveal is that there's a lot more to Ben than meets the eye in this fic.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

**Okay I kinda guessed that the previous chapter might have been a little weak and angsty but I guess it was a lot worse than I thought. Anyway thanks to the people who reviewed and here's the next instalment…..**

Enjoy

It was 7 in the evening now and still no word from him.

She went over the several feasible reasons for him to not call, but she also knew that it was incredibly unlike him to not call and check in with her, especially if he promised her he would. So with that in mind she decided to be the one doing the calling but she was stopped halfway by a knock on her front door and without a thought to consider she bolted for it, hoping and praying that it was him on the other side.

"Jac…..Sawyer?" she started out in an elated manner but frowned considerably when her eyes then fell upon a man she never expected to see. Not after the hell she felt she had put him through.

"Hey." Was all he could potentially offer the moment he came face to face with her.

"Hi. So….." Kate responded and broke off in an awkward manner. Not really knowing what to say or do in situations such as these but she felt the need to give him at least some of her restricted time.

"Can we talk?" he then cautiously requested evoking an immediate answer or more an excuse that she wasn't really feeling well but all of that got thrown out the window the minute Aaron made his presence known.

He had been briefly told about the little boy's significance to the people he worked for but nothing could have braced him for such a sight.

"Aaron, honey why don't you go play while I talk to this nice man here." Kate coaxed the toddler who kept eyeing Sawyer in a very weird manner. Almost as if to suggest a threat of some kind, but in the end she tried to not look too much into it.

Thankfully Aaron wordlessly complied and scampered off into the living room, leaving Kate to deal with a weirdly silent Sawyer and she also grew slightly worried when she finally saw the sole reason for it. With that she stepped out of the house and closed the door shut behind her, then standing right in front of it, wordlessly conveying her growing weariness towards him, and to a certain extent could he really blame her for feeling that way.

"He yours?" he couldn't help but enquire in an effort to not only know for sure but to also draw the slightest hint of suspicion away from him and what he truly knew of this little boy.

"Err…yeah, yeah he is." She hesitantly replied feeling horrible for lying to him but also feeling the need to at the same time.

_Something ab_ _out him was different._

"Wow."

"Yeah. So you said you wanted to talk." Kate responded with a genuine smile while sub consciously allowing her hand to place itself on the surface of her firm abdomen. The action not lost on the man opposite her, but he quickly snapped himself out of it and then cowered considerably under her watchful gaze.

"Uhh….. it was nothing. Just wanted to see how you were doin is all." He made the excuse while making the move to leave and all she did in turn was face him with a weary gaze.

"Okay."

"Okay, I guess I'll see ya." He repeated with an audible nod knowing that this was probably the weirdest conversation he had ever had, but he had to break it off this way in an effort to gain the courage to simply come out with it. However doing so would jeopardise not only his life but the lives of the people he knew had done nothing wrong in the first place.

_It was Ben who was the real problem._

"Yeah, see ya."

Once he was out of sight, or that's what she thought, she quickly ran back into the house to answer the ringing phone, hoping that it was none other than him.

"Jack." She immediately spoke into the receiver once she picked it up, but all she got in response was a faint clicking that grew to annoy her the more she held on hoping for a something promising. However nothing but that sound graced her ears and with that she made the move to then slam the receiver, but before she could she was finally awarded with something.

"You're not supposed to raise him Kate." A clearly disguised voice spoke into the phone and then hung up leaving her genuinely afraid of what she was being warned of here.

_Who were these people?_

* * *

_Everything seemed to be a distant _ _blur as he woke, but what stood out the most were the voices he kept hearing all around him. _

_He then tried getting up, hissing in pain as he did so but in the end he managed the task and slowly stood to his full height surveying the plain white room he was now standing within._ _It was only then that he remembered something._

_I've been here before…_

_The voices still continued on but as he became more coherent of this reality, they started to get louder and more defined in what they were saying, and suddenly everything seized apart from the one voice he couldn't mistake with anyone else's._

_Could it really be? He asked himself as he tried to listen out for the voice now coming from behind the door to the room he was in at the moment. _

_He admittedly hesitated at first still wondering where the hell he was, but at hearing the voice again, he knew that maybe this was where he was meant to be now. So with that he walked towards the door and slowly opened it, being immediately bathed with a blinding light and the only thing that could be seen through it was the rough yet distinct figure of a little boy physically reaching out and saying something Jack could barely hear mainly due to the current distance between them_

_So in an effort to fulfil his growing curiosity he walked toward the boy, momentarily marvelling at how he seemed to float with each stride but never the less he devoted his attention towards the figure he was approaching and it was only till he stood in front of the person that he finally recognised who it was._

"_Kevin?" Jack exclaimed in astonishment of seeing his little boy alive and almost as a seal of approval that this was in fact happening, Kevin mouthed the one referral that broke Jack completely and without hesitation he grabbed the little boy into his arms. Tightly embracing him in the same way any parent would if they were to be reunited with their child._

_For the next few minutes he just stood there holding and grasping his little boy as close as he possibly could, not wanting to lose another minute without him, but what gradually registered was how this was happening._

"_Kev_ _." Jack softly requested pulling away but still gaining a firm hold on his son._

"_You ho-ome Dada?_ _" The little hazel eyed boy spoke in the best way he could and his sheer effort was enough to warm Jack's heart and make him forget about everything else other than this moment._

"_Yeah. Dada's home buddy and he's never going to let you go again."_

_It oddly felt like home and the more he held Kevin_ _, the more he started to believe in it and dismiss everything else including the real world where an increasingly worried Kate still waited for him to return to her._

"_Don't weave me Dada."_

"Are you sure this is gonna work?" Juliet asked as she kept her gaze focused on a heavily dormant and critically injured Jack who looked incredibly pale and virtually lifeless as it was slowly being drained out of him by the one man even Ben secretly feared due to what he or more so his powers were capable of.

"Have I ever been unsuccessful before?" the man decided to ask instead of giving her a simple one worded answer. Though he hoped the inclinations of his question would give her a good enough suggestion for his answer.

"No." she muttered feeling the slightest hint of guilt as she surveyed the withering features of a man who was nothing but nice and hospitable to her, and this is how she was repaying him. By literally having the life sucked out of him for acquiring a gift he didn't know about or ask for in the first place. Though she was constantly affirmed that this gift of Jack's was nothing but a curse and a means to an end for Jacob's second coming. A man she was led to believe would bring nothing but good to this world.

However as she gazed at the scene before her, she couldn't help but think that maybe the real threat was a lot closer than she originally expected it to be.

_In that moment she knew she had to do something, but what?_

"Once I'm done I'll make him see that this is the best place to be and if not then I'm sure Kate can convince him." The man evilly revealed and then resumed with constructing this reality for Jack. One he hoped Jack wouldn't want to come back from ever again, especially when he saw what else this reality had to offer.

One way or another the threat would be eliminated.

* * *

Her seventh try to get the ropes undone and she came out with same failed outcome, leaving her to just sigh in defeat and pray for some sort of help to come.

A few moments later and she was graced with the familiar sound of her cell door being opened but the only difference here was that there was no one there.

"Who's there?" the frightened blonde called out in a tone that equally matched her fear and when she failed to get a response in return the fear within her grew to a fierce tremble.

"Claire" a familiar voice suddenly filled the chilled air of the room she was being held in at the moment.

"Charlie?" Claire questioned though knowing it was relatively absurd to do so for the most obvious reason, but there was just something she felt that made her want to believe that it was him.

The next thing she then saw was something that finally confirmed her assumptions. He was here. He was now standing right in front of her, still dressed in the same clothes she had last seen him in the day he died.

"What are you….." she started out but broke off when she saw him lean forward to touch the side of her face and for a split second she hoped she would be able to feel it again, just this one time, but all she experienced instead was a white flash before her eyes, and once the light faded she then found herself standing at the edge of the lake Charlie had drowned in.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion and before she could make head no tails of what was going on she was then with an elated Aaron who kept on dragging his Father toward the lake.

"**Daddy let's go before the sun goes away."**

"**Okay, okay c'mon then." Charlie attempted to appease the little boy and as always it managed to put a smile on her face at how Aaron always had him wrapped around his little finger.**

She was suddenly shocked however to also see herself so happy and captivated by her husband and son just bonding in the way she felt they needed to.

"**Don't go too far."**

Her past self made the note to express and Charlie just smiled at her while assuring her that he would be with Aaron the whole time. With that said they then made their way down to the lake while her past self went about preparing the picnic they had also come out to have.

"**Daddy, look at me." Aaron exclaimed as he splashed about in the water, shivering ever so slightly as he did so due to the distinct change in weather, but it failed to ** **make any impression on them so they continued on frolicking in mid afternoon sun. **

However as expected it soon darkened and clearly suggested the arrival of the one moment she hated seeing cause it brought it all back, but as she attempted to cover her face she couldn't seem to move and it frustrated her to no end. Though as the scene before her progressed she started to see things she had never seen before. Things that could have just explained the one mystery she couldn't seem to solve no matter how many times she went over it.

"**Daddy, Daddy help me!!" Aaron shouted out while attempting to swim his way through the gathering current and before he could move any further Charlie yelled out Aaron's name while pointing towards the log which was about to fall upon them.**

"**DADDY!!" he yelled one last time, and the next thing Claire then saw was Aaron standing at the edge of the river bank gazing at his struggling Father and not doing a damn thing about it.**

After literally shouting her lungs out she then resorted to saving Charlie herself but she still couldn't seem to move and within her moment of struggle she heard Charlie call out for help one last time before the massive log splashed into the water and directly over him.

"Aaron!! Aaron!!" Claire kept on shouting but it failed to gain the boy's attention in any way whatsoever and within the blink of an eye she was back in her cell and now looking straight into the eyes of Charlie's ghost.

"What the…."

"It doesn't matter what happened but you have to help him Claire. You're the only one who can save Aaron from what they want him to become." Charlie instructed and before she could question it any further he was gone, and upon further observation she now found herself miraculously free of the ropes that once restrained her.

"You're the only one who can save him Claire."

* * *

"Now tell me if I'm wrong in saying this but shouldn't there be someone else with you. Like a 4 year old boy perhaps." The driver behind the wheel shot at Sawyer as he slumped in the passenger seat of the car which was parked two blocks away from Kate's house.

"I can't do it." Sawyer truthfully admitted with a sigh to stress the difficulty he was experiencing in doing such a task.

"And why's that?"

"I just…..I just can't alright." Sawyer grumbled and then made the move to let himself out of the car he was in, but with a single click he then found himself locked in, leaving him with no choice but to explain his reason for backing out of this mission at the very last minute.

This was gonna be a tough one.

**Okay so not a very cheerful chapter but I wanted ** **to build a momentum cause I'm thinking of ending this fic in about two more chapters or so seeing as interest has clearly been lost in this fic of late which is fairly discouraging.**

**So will Jack survive this?**

**Will Claire be able to get to Aaron before Sawyer does?**

**What will Kate do?**

**The identity of the man doing this to Jack will be revealed in the next chapter…..**

**Any confusion and i'll be happy to clear it all up. Though i'm liable to slip up with a few other things in the process such as spoilers for example lol.**


End file.
